Upon the peak of Qianfeng in Qiantian Mountain, as the intents impressed within the talismanic token flooded into his mind, Ren Bo felt his very head explode into a void of white. After a moment of stunned vacancy, an overwhelming surge of ecstasy erupted from his chest. After this great joy, his emotions were so turbulent that he nearly fainted on the spot.

He looked around and saw that everyone in the hall, including Xu Shu, the councilors had regained their composure. Suppressing the elation brought by the news of Qiu Wei's great victory, they all watched him with questioning eyes.

Ren Bo took a deep breath, knowing these words ultimately had to be spoken. Yet his voice felt incredibly rough and strained: "There is news from Shangxiao Mountain—His Majesty has utterly crushed the three-million-strong army of the Thousand Cities Alliance! Leading four thousand Iron Cavalry, he has flattened the Shangxiao Xuanling Sect. The entire sect, wiped out, not a single survivor! Furthermore, the Third Generation Patriarch of Shangxiao Sect, Shenxiao, has fallen by His Majesty's hand!"

The Council Hall fell deathly silent. Everyone was stunned, blank, and utterly bewildered.

Those who began to process the information looked at Ren Bo as if he were mad. They thought: Has this old Chancellor been too heavily struck by the news from that direction, causing him to lose his mind? Or perhaps he is mistaking his own fantasies for reality? A great victory over the three million troops of the Thousand Cities Alliance, with Zong Yuan's peerless generalship, was barely plausible. But flattening Shangxiao? That was truly laughable— Even if he needed to steady people's hearts, he didn't need to invent such absurd news. A coldness settled in his own chest; he feared the message from Shangxiao Mountain was anything but good.

Ren Bo’s mood had settled by this point. He shook his head inwardly, thinking: As expected, this is the result.

With a sigh, Ren Bo stood up fully, having lost all desire to explain or even bother with these people. Distracted and unsteady on his feet, he walked directly out of the hall.

It was the hour of dawn, and a morning sun was just rising over the distant horizon. Rays of golden light streamed out, magnificent beyond measure.

Ren Bo’s figure froze once more as he stared blankly at the rising sun. Victory! A grand victory! The Eastern Lin Cloud Continent could finally be unified. The scholar who had once been cornered and without recourse was now truly the sovereign ruler of a nation. What a miraculous turn of fate! The true day of Qiantian Mountain's founding seemed not far off— My old friend, my old friend, everything you promised me has now been achieved! It is a pity you are no longer here. But like father, like son; His Majesty’s talent and strategy are no less than yours. In just two short years, he has brought the East Lin to this point, even destroying Shangxiao— I recall that Third Generation Patriarch of Shangxiao Xuanling was at the peak of the Divine Realm. To think he also died by His Majesty’s hand—it is unbelievable!

While his thoughts raced, Xu Shu’s voice sounded again nearby: "Chancellor! Is what you just said true or false?"

Ren Bo was startled awake again, then gave a self-deprecating laugh: "You likely refuse to believe it. Do you think I, Ren Bo, have gone mad? Or that I am wildly boasting to deceive you? When did my reputation become so tarnished? Have any of you ever heard me utter a falsehood?"

Xu Shu’s face flushed slightly. He inwardly grumbled about the lack of falsehoods. He remembered several times when this old man tried to coax money out of His Majesty from his bag, without even blinking—his skin was as thick as a city wall.

Yet, a sliver of joy faintly surfaced in his heart. Knowing that Ren Bo would say this, the news was likely sixty percent true! The remaining forty percent was due to his fundamental distrust of the old man’s character. Men who govern are seldom perfectly honest gentlemen. He himself, for example, occasionally employed minor stratagems.

"I have no patience to explain to you. Definite news from Shangxiao Mountain will arrive within an hour or two at most. What use is it to deceive you now?"

Turning his head, he glanced dismissively at those in the hall. A cold sneer played on the corner of Ren Bo’s lips: "Furthermore, for those among you who are so capable and well-informed, you likely won't need two hours. I estimate within half an hour, you will have confirmation. Qiantian Mountain is about to unify the East Lin—"

Saying this, Ren Bo stopped abruptly. Then, without another word, he strode rapidly down the mountain. He was truly growing senile. Now was the time for Qiantian Mountain to exert its force and launch widespread assaults. It needed to continue expanding its army, requiring more provisions, equipment, and elixirs. It also needed envoys dispatched everywhere. —Not for negotiation, for no one in the East Lin Continent now possessed the status to demand negotiation from Qiantian Mountain. It was simply to force the various cities into submission! Submit, or perish! There was also the matter of suppressing rebellions; those two dozen rebellious cities also needed people to handle them. All of this required him to remain anchored in the capital to coordinate; where was the time for wasting words with these people?

Just then, another token arrived in Ren Bo's hand. He assumed it was from the Shangxiao Sect, but upon reading it, he couldn't help but laugh wryly. "The Snow Lion Clan seems unstable? Showing signs of rebellion. That makes twenty-eight places. These jumping clowns are truly courting death—"

This was potentially terrible news, yet now it could not stir even a ripple of disturbance in his state of mind; instead, he found it utterly ridiculous! He had never understood why Zong Shou had brought the Snow Lion Clan up from beneath the sea of clouds and granted them land and cities. He had been far too generous. Now it seemed they were indeed a breed with wolfish ambition, ungrateful wretches—

Behind Ren Bo, Xu Shu frowned, silent. He truly could not determine if the old man's words were genuine. The news was too preposterous, too unexpected. It felt like an unbelievable fairytale. However, in his heart, inexplicably, he found himself starting to believe it. If that were so, was Qiantian Mountain truly on the verge of unifying the Cloud Continent?

As this thought arose, a dozen shafts of golden light suddenly descended from the distance. Two of them belonged to him. He casually summoned them into his sleeves. Before Xu Shu could get a closer look, he heard a chorus of gasps rising from the council hall behind him.

"It's true! Chancellor Ren certainly did not deceive us!" "His Majesty crushed the three-million-strong army of the Thousand Cities Alliance at Shangxiao Mountain. And now he has flattened Shangxiao Mountain—" "Blood Cloud Cavalry? What kind of Dao Soldiers are these? How can they possess such divine might?" "Sealing off a hundred li with the Ten Ultimate Vault of Heaven Formation! The entire sect, wiped out. Not a single cultivator from the East Lin sects escaped. His Highness, it seems, had long plotted this—" "Hah! Ridiculous, ridiculous! The sects of the East Lin schemed so carefully to trap His Majesty, only to fall into his snare! Over ten thousand cultivators, all dead on the peak of Shangxiao Mountain! Good riddance, it pleases me greatly!" "That True Man Shenxiao really perished atop Shangxiao Mountain! Truly inconceivable—" "What’s so strange about that? The Blood Cloud Iron Cavalry, I have heard of them before. In the Martial Might Kingdom era, ten thousand years ago, they were invincible under heaven! Thirty thousand cavalry, destroying sects and slaughtering clans, slaying countless Divine and Immortal Realm experts! You are all truly ignorant; go back and read some books, and you will know! If there truly are four thousand Blood Cavalry, then not only the East Lin Cloud Continent—they could sweep an entire realm! Even the Holy Land Sects would not dare disrespect Qiantian Mountain!"

The hall was immediately filled with gasps, followed by a fresh wave of discussion.

"Is this truly so?" "It must be an exaggeration; these claims are too bombastic—" "I think I have heard the name Blood Cloud Iron Cavalry before." "It seems I really need to go back and check the books."

Xu Shu, standing outside, his gaze flickering, allowed the corners of his mouth to lift slightly. The Blood Cloud Cavalry, so that's it! His Majesty kept it well hidden—

He did not look at the two incoming tokens, instead also walking down the mountain. What is false cannot be made true, and what is true cannot be hidden— It seemed this battle was truly won! A grand victory! His heart finally settled completely, and watching the rising sun, an unbidden feeling of soaring ambition swelled within him. He also felt a slight curiosity: for someone like His Majesty, just how far would he eventually advance?

He had only walked a few dozen paces when he saw dozens of figures successively overtake him. Looking closely, they were all the people who had been observing in the Council Hall just moments before, now rushing down the mountain with undisguised eagerness.

Xu Shu shook his head, guessing what was happening. Sure enough, a moment later, as he neared the foot of the mountain, he heard thunderous cheers erupting throughout the entire city! The sound shook the whole place! Near his ear, the joyful chatter of the stationed guards on duty was abundant.

"We won! It’s really true! His Majesty achieved a great victory at Shangxiao Mountain! I hear they’ve already slaughtered the entire Shangxiao Xuanling Sect—" These guards, whose cultivation hadn't reached the Innate stage, might not know the former prestige and tyranny of the Shangxiao Sect in the East Lin, but their words were still brimming with joy.

"Xiong Yu seems to have been defeated too! Hilarious, this woman always wanted to oppose His Majesty, dreaming of reclaiming lost territory—what a pipe dream!" "She even called herself Princess Xuanyu, a master strategist. The most skilled military mind in the West of the East Lin, apart from His Majesty and General Zong Yuan. And yet, she was routed by General Qiu Tingzhu! Her twenty million troops were smashed by Tingzhu’s million men—clearly, the reputation was undeserved!" "I heard it was all planned by His Majesty beforehand; he secretly incited the Lord of Cloud Saint City to betray them mid-battle, causing the Thousand Cities Alliance to collapse—" "Did you hear about His Majesty’s divine power on Shangxiao Mountain? Three thousand zhang of lightning wings, every step he took slew one Ninth Order expert! I believe His Majesty must be an incarnation of the Heavenly Emperor!" "Heaven be praised that the great endeavor of Qiantian Mountain is secured! Now we can finally rest easy—hey! Brothers, are you free tonight to enjoy yourselves in Fragrant Drifting City?"

Xu Shu smiled. Ever since Zong Shou designated the Ten Li Fragrant Drifting District, moving those brothels, pleasure houses, and some merchants to the garrison town ten li away, that place had acquired the nickname Fragrant Drifting City. Thinking of it, he felt a slight inclination.

"You still have the mood for pleasure at a time like this? Now, our Lingyun will sweep across the Cloud Continent. This is the time for earning merit and establishing achievements; what we should worry about now is not being selected for the army—" "Exactly! And remember, there are still those rebels. Peace has not yet fully settled." "Those rebels are truly infuriating! It seems His Majesty didn't kill enough people a few years ago!"

Xu Shu laughed and continued forward, no longer listening, humming a jaunty tune to himself, completely at ease. The general trend was set; some insignificant ants could be brushed away with a gesture—why worry?