Fenghe Prefecture, Da Chu.

In this prefecture, there was a famous mountain called Xuanping Mountain that housed the Xuan Zhen Sect's headquarters.

Forests on the mountains were lush while dense, fluffy clouds covered the mountains.

On a certain mountain peak, a gust of wind blew away the clouds and a building could be seen. The building housed numerous pavilions and terraces; it was brilliantly structured. Caws of celestial cranes could be heard and spirit monkeys could be seen plucking fruits. It had the look of a grand celestial manor.

"Chirp! Chirp!"

Suddenly, a green bird cut across the sky and flew into the hall of the building. Its shrills were sorrowful and pierced the silence.

The hall was built from pure copper and there were a few altars used to worship deities inside the hall. In front, there were a few elders seating on cushions.

"A message from the green bird? Moreover, it's the most urgent secret information?"

The head of Xuan Zhen Sect was stunned for a moment. He then immediately waved his hand and a clear gust of wind reached the green bird.

The green bird's eyes shined brightly, it was extremely human-like. It then began rapidly reciting, "Elders, disaster! Xinfeng army's military governor Baili Xuandu was met with resistance from the Empress Dowager at the capital. After he refused to surrender, he was attacked by the Demonic Beast Swarm! The 60,000 men strong army toppled in a day and he almost died!"

Although it was only a few sentences, the information and meaning in them were astounding. The elders' expression changed at once, "Demonic Beast Swarm? The demons have always schemed behind the scenes! This time, they finally displayed their powers in front of everyone?"

"Divine Predictor Elder, what do you think?"

After the initial commotion, Xuan Zhen Sect Head enquired a person.

This person's beard was so long it touched the ground and his face was full of wrinkles. He appeared haggard and looked like a skeleton, as though he was about to die.

"Cough…... cough…..."

The Divine Predictor coughed twice before speaking weakly and breathlessly, "I have already investigated each countries' dragon energy. Disregarding Da Qi and Da Liang, inside Da Chu, there are only two rising dragon energies. One is Xu Ting while the other is Baili Xuandu!"

"Although there are some others with slight potential, since they have not risen to power till now, they have missed the right timing, the right conditions and the right people. They can be considered useless now..."

"Although our sect originally favoured Xu Ting and invested in him early on, ever since Xu family have gotten too close with the demons, their fate energy has changed. In this three years, we have gradually favoured Baili Xuandu, but alas, just before we could sever ties with Xu Family and invest in Baili Xuandu, he was defeated! He has fully lost the right timing and there would be no chance for him to rise again!"

"The demons are determined to have us dead!"

A female elder loathingly said, "But there are no other hidden dragons that have not been noticed and killed... what should we do from now on? Fully invest in Xu family or seal the mountain and retreat?

"We absolutely cannot seal the mountain!"

The Sect Head shook his head, "We are at the peak of the turmoil now and can only move forward with it. If we were to retreat, we will lose out on people dao fate energy, and our sect will slowly decline even if we have the support of our rare treasures..."

"Looks like the Sect Head has favoured Xu Ting, but not only is he not getting closer to us, he is getting more inclined towards the lone practitioners and demons!"

Another elder shook his head, "Previously, Qing Xuan relayed that the Golden Court Dragon God and Qi Lake Dragon God were the ones who saved Xu Ting's troops when he was attacked by An River Dragon God. This shows that they have deep ties..."

"That's not true!"

Xuan Zhen Sect Head laughed, "Too much of a good thing can actually be worse! Although these two Dragon Gods played a huge role, Xu Ting would still be fearful of them. Xu Ting is merely ingratiating them as he needs them for his war, but what happens when the war is over?"

"Brilliant and insightful!"

A few other daoists nodded their head in agreement, "Especially now, there are no more heroes in Da Chu's capital. Even the demons have used up everything! The two sides suffered severe losses. if Xu Ting can quickly send his troops over, he will definitely be able to occupy it!"

"Such a situation will be an easy task for Xu Ting, hence, the chances of him relying on the Dragon Gods would be even smaller! Thus, we must suppress them with every opportunity we have!"

"True!"

Xuan Zhen Sect Head nodded his head, "Since that is the case, go ahead!"

"All of you may leave now!"

The daoists kowtowed before leaving the hall one by one. Only the Sect Head stayed behind to ponder as he looked at the rising smoke from the incense and its quivering flame.

...

"What?"

he news spread around fast and not before long, Fang Yuan, who was in Qi Lake, caught wind of it too.

"I can't believe it! I really can't believe the demons were so daring to ambush the hidden dragon." Fang Yuan mumbled to himself.

From his source of intelligence, although Baili Xuandu's army was wiped out, the demons suffered great losses as well.

After all, Baili Xuandu was a powerful military governor; he had numerous talented people under him. Moreover, he had the support of his dragon energy.

After the bloody battle, the Demonic Beast Swarm was severely desecrated too. Apparently, outside Da Chu's capital, there was a mountain tall pile of corpses. It was an utterly revolting mixture of humans' and beasts' corpses and carcasses.

"This Xu Ting is really lucky. Perhaps his fate energy has greatly increased since he received the support from the Golden Court Dragon God and me?"

Fang Yuan stroked his chin.

Upon hearing the news, Xu Ting immediately gave up on reorganising his troops. He promptly led his troops towards Qi Lake.

At that moment, the numerous military occupied towns were in chaos after they lost their leader. They either surrendered or were conquered instantly. In just a short period, Xu Ting occupied more than ten prefectures in the vicinity of An River and Qi Lake; he had already occupied half the country!

"If he can stop the demons from interfering and conquer the capital, he would naturally be able to rule the entire Da Chu thereafter!"

The fight for Da Chu was getting clearer.

Inside Da Chu, there was no doubt that Xu family was the strongest force to be reckoned with. Moreover, they were even stronger than the imperial family.

Furthermore, Da Qi and Da Liang were in internal chaos too. If Xu Ting could unite and rule Da Chu, he could even unite the countries under his rule!

"Hence, Xu Ting would become the number one hated target amongst all demons... this would spell trouble for him..."

Fang Yuan shook his head and looked towards a direction as he pondered. After a moment, he cast a magical formula and a water mirror appeared.

"A group of daoist has just joined Xu Ting, looks like they are from Xuan Zhen Sect... How did I not know that there were so many cultivators in this realm?"

As the Qi Lake Dragon God, he could understand the situation of the nearby prefectures.

As he saw such a scene, he felt solemn.

The reason humans were rising was not only because they were favoured by the heavenly trend, they had also surpassed a certain threshold. Thus, talented people and heroes could continually emerge amongst the humans.

At that moment, Xu Ting was only left with becoming the ruler of the entire Da Chu. Thus, he had the support of many people which made him even more powerful!

Rome was not built in a day! Every contribution mattered!

Once Xu Ting had the support of millions of people, even the Divine Demon Queen would be rather fearful of his force!

"Since his soldiers were severely fatigued from the battles this year, he must strike next year!"

Fang Yuan contemplated, "Xu Ting has two ways to achieve a breakthrough. One is the capital of Da Chu, the other is to continue conquering the remaining military occupied towns... this is all clear!"

Xu family's strength was already sufficient to officially rule the entire Da Chu.

"At such a stage, I guess some people can only be forced to invest more?"

Fang Yuan looked towards the water mirror with a sly smile.

...

At that moment, Xu Ting was in plain clothes and was hiking with a few of his confidants.

"Qiwei Prefecture is the core of the 5 prefectures near Qi Lake. Since Golden Court Lake is too far from here, Father has already prepared to move his office here. He will personally officiate this prefecture and monitor the frontlines..."

They felt relaxed as they hiked higher up the mountains.

Xu Ting casually mentioned, "During the spring of next year, after we finish reorganising the troops, we definitely must launch our attacks and rapidly unite Da Chu."

"Just that… there is still an issue!"

He raised his eyebrows and continued, "Although my father is the Glorious Grandmaster, such a title is still a ministerial position! A minister as a head of state, that is not appropriate!"

"You are right, General, it is time to promote his title!"

The confidants immediately chimed in.

To be the ruler of a country was an opportunity many wanted.

Furthermore, since Xu Ting already planned to attack the capital, the title of 'Minister' was really not apt.

"The Glorious Grandmaster's hard work allowed us to occupy half the country! Promoting his title to King would be very suitable!" one of his followers suggested.

Realistically, with the lands he had occupied, the title of Emperor would be too forced.

"King?"

Xu Ting was moved at once.

Nearby, as daoist Qing Xuan watched the scene, he was reminded of his Sect Head. "Xuan Zhen Sect suffered losses after losses and our progress has been severely hindered... Now, the elders do not even mind utilising our sect's rare treasures to tide this through! This is not for our sect but for the heavenly trend!"

Qing Xuan stood quietly as he waited for his chance.

As they were tired from their hike, Xu Ting took a look at the sun and said, "Time to find a place to rest! After lunch, we will head down the mountain!"

"General!"

Daoist Qing Xuan suddenly called out, "This peak is called King Sun's Mountain, we can visit the King Sun's Court up there to rest!"

"Okay, let's go there!"

Hearing such, Xu Ting was intrigued. Upon reaching the peak, there was indeed a small court. It was styled in a temple-like fashion, it was also rustic and elegant looking, while still retaining a sense of solemnity.

In front of the court, there was a rock tablet. It introduced the life of King Sun and had a poem inscribed on it. "Although the temple has resided in this mountain for a long time, many have not heard of King Sun. He fought the rebels of Qi Lake, leaving behind his great legacy. A hero of the past enshrined in history, a name not known by many. Although new deeds could not be inscribed, respects could be paid."

"So it's a temple for a king!"

After Xu Ting thought for a moment, he ordered someone to pass him the incense. He then ceremoniously worshipped.

This King Sun was the second prince of the previous dynasty. He was both scholarly and skilled in martial arts. He had even led troops to suppress rebels in Qi Lake. After the eldest prince died, many supported him to be the crown prince. However, he was framed by others and ultimately did not become the emperor. He was only bestowed upon the title of King Sun and not long after, he mysteriously "drowned". 

Of course, Xu Ting did not trust what was written in the historical records. He felt a cold sweat as he thought, "The fight for the throne is deadly, even the descendants of emperors died fighting for the throne. What can I even be proud of at my current stage?"

Xu Ting self-reflected as he prayed a few more times.

"Eh?"

Suddenly, the nearby Kong Luo's expression changed. He opened his spiritual eyes and saw streaks of fate energy gathering above the court and entering Xu Ting's head as he worshipped. It signified Xu Ting was meant to be a king!