Wen Yuncheng carefully examined the wolf and found that its appearance wasn’t much different from the wolf-type demonic beasts on the Starry Sky Continent. The only difference was probably the lack of Star Power fluctuations from this wolf. Wen Yuncheng wasted no more time, ending the wolf’s life with a steel spike before quickly heading outside.

The Flowing Cloud Sect was not in chaos. The sect’s disciples, in groups of three to five or seven to eight, were working together to surround and eliminate the demonic beasts that had landed within the sect. Wen Yuncheng saw not only the wolves from before but also the tusked apes that the Protector had killed last time… all sorts of demonic beasts. The Huanling Continent was likely using these demonic beasts as cannon fodder for their assault, throwing them all over to die.

Wen Yuncheng quickly joined the battlefield. The Mountain River Seal and Flying Sky Shuttle shot out, and she summoned the Aerial Combat Mech: Gale and the Ex-S Viper Cannon. Her three Apostles followed closely behind her, beginning a wanton slaughter.

Wen Yuncheng wasn’t interested in the spoils of war. After all the invading species within the Flowing Cloud Sect were dead, she looked at Sect Master Lin, who was sheathing his longsword. “Sect Master Lin, if… the continent falls into chaos, what choice will the Flowing Cloud Sect make?”

Lin Zhenyun glanced at Wen Yuncheng and smiled. “That will depend on what Jinyu thinks.”

Wen Yuncheng nodded. Whether it was the other continent or the Fu organization… neither was any good. The Huanling Continent probably hadn’t reached the brink of extinction, had it? Even if their continent was on the verge of destruction, they shouldn’t be so wantonly invading someone else’s home.

Of course, this was a thought born from a difference in perspective. If Wen Yuncheng had woken up on the Huanling Continent after her death, she might have enlisted as one of the invaders herself. Wen Yuncheng sighed. These hypotheticals were meaningless.

What needed to be considered now were the thoughts of the Starry Sky Continent’s demonic beasts and Dragon Island. The continent also had vast sea regions. The demonic beasts under the sea couldn’t be lumped together with the land-based ones. They had always kept to themselves and not interfered with the Empire. But now, with this otherworldly invasion, it was unknown what the sovereigns of the sea were thinking.

The deployment through the portals had not ended. Most of the spatial passages within the Empire’s territory were temporarily locked and sealed by the Star Emperors. As for the demonic beasts that had already been deployed, those within the Empire’s borders were also quickly purged.

The Empire’s citizens suffered some casualties, but fortunately, the Empire reacted swiftly, and the losses were not severe. After that night, on the second day, Chu Han, on behalf of the Empire, sent subsidies and condolences to the citizens who had suffered casualties. He also firmly expressed the Empire’s pro-war stance. Faced with invasion, the Empire would not shrink back in the slightest; it would only meet the enemy with its full strength.

It was also on this day that the otherworld suddenly cast a projection onto the Starry Sky Continent. They arrogantly announced that their continent was the “Huanling Continent” and told the creatures of the Starry Sky Continent to remember this name, because… the Starry Sky Continent would soon become a vassal continent of the Huanling Continent. Of course, the person in the projection also said that as long as one pledged allegiance to the Huanling Continent, they could live. They would not harm slaves who had already surrendered. The powerful beings of the Starry Sky Continent could also surrender to them, and if they were strong enough, they were willing to bring them to the Huanling Continent to live.

That was the general meaning, but perhaps because their languages were not mutually intelligible, the person’s words were extremely sharp and harsh. The arrogance and contempt in their speech were almost tangible. Even some of the powerful individuals in the Fu organization who supported this plan felt very uncomfortable listening to it. “Slaves”? Weren’t they supposed to be partners?

“Just listen and let it go. As long as we subvert the Empire and usher in a new era, we will be the pioneers. As for the other continent… they don’t belong here, after all. They can’t possibly control us all the time,” a high-ranking member of Fu placated a partner whose face showed indignation.

“Yes, we are doing something extremely great. A little verbal humiliation is nothing.” The partner quickly adjusted his expression and regained his composure. “That person said the Huanling Continent will soon send an envoy to contact us and then decide on the next move. It’s about time to begin…”

“The demonic beasts, and Dragon Island. There are also a few families within the Empire who have sided with us that we can use. Let’s stir up public opinion first.”

“What are the black markets thinking?”

“They seem to be hesitating. The Empire is sure to make a big move next.”

“Then let them hesitate. Once we make our official move, they’ll soon know who the real winner is. Right, those sects… start preparing them too. When the world sees the power of the Huanling Continent, when they understand that resistance means death and submission means life, they will know what the right choice is.”

All sides were taking action.

After the projection, the Empire immediately pacified the populace, then held a meeting with the first-tier sects and contacted the second and third-tier sects. First-tier sects could guard a region on their own, but second and third-tier sects, due to their strength, needed to unite and cooperate with the lords and guards of various cities and towns.

The elite armies trained by the Empire had already been dispatched to various locations, while the Dragon Tiger Guard was on high alert, ready to receive orders at any moment.

This continued until the Huanling Continent opened a portal again, this time truly dispatching an army and its generals.

They were so conceited that they opened only a single portal. The moment the general’s head appeared, the twelve Star Emperors who had long been lying in wait charged out together, severely wounding him instantly. The general was seen vomiting blood frantically as he retreated, just as the army inside the portal began to teleport through—of course, any who came out were annihilated on the spot.

A Fu member waiting nearby to provide support said, “These people from the Huanling Continent… are they a bit… brain-dead?”

Another member: “They don’t seem very bright.”

Facing the combined attack of twelve Star Emperors, the Fu members didn’t dare show themselves immediately. After all, they also wanted to gauge this general’s strength. The result… he was severely wounded in an instant? Was this a joke? If you can’t crush them, couldn’t you have come secretly?

The Huanling Continent’s first battle was a major defeat. The general directly burned a secret technique and forced his way back through the portal. However, one of his arms was crippled, and his back was blasted into a bloody mess by Star Power. It was an utterly miserable sight.

Fu was extremely disappointed in the Huanling Continent, and the Huanling Continent was equally disappointed and furious with the Fu organization and their kinsmen who were stranded on the Starry Sky Continent!

“They said there would be reinforcements, that there would be a reception, but there was nothing?! The moment General Huai Li went over, he was besieged by twelve people! Every single one of them had the cultivation of a Phantom Emperor!” The Grand General of the Huanling Continent was furious and also felt a lingering fear—after all, if General Huai Li hadn’t volunteered, he would have been the one who ran over and got beaten to a pulp.

“Weren’t we told that the Starry Sky Continent was rich in resources and had numerous species, but that the dominant humanoids here were extremely weak in their development? That their strength was completely incomparable to our Huanling Continent? Weren’t we told that the Huanling Iron Cavalry could easily conquer this continent just by showing up! Dammit…” The general cursed, extremely angry. He felt he had been deceived. Of course, he had considered that the unlucky bastards swept away by the chaotic spacetime currents might not have told the truth, but… but the disparity in strength was just too great, wasn’t it?

“Weren’t we told that the forces on this continent only had a total of three experts at the Phantom Emperor level?! What bullshit is this?! Could it be that in just a few years, the Starry Sky Continent managed to cultivate nine more Phantom Emperor experts? Dammit, dammit… They had invested a massive amount of manpower and resources into this. Countless demonic beasts used for experiments and humans who voluntarily sacrificed themselves for the experiments had died. At this point, it was no longer something they could simply give up on.

The Huanling Continent was divided into two factions. One was a conservationist faction, advocating for restraint. As resources on the Huanling Continent dwindled, they hoped everyone would conserve resources and energy, for example, by setting quotas for various regions. They proposed limiting how many people could cultivate each year and how many people from each faction could achieve a breakthrough. The other faction, however, felt that one’s own development should not be limited by resources. This was the general’s faction. Just as they were on the verge of being forced to disband by the conservationist faction for being unable to propose any practical measures, they received a letter from another world—from an inventive genius who had disappeared for decades and whom they had long thought dead.

—The Starry Sky Continent was like a treasure trove with no protective measures, presented right before their eyes.

An ownerless treasure, rich in resources, low in strength, and without a Plane Lord—how wonderful. This continent was simply like a gift tailor-made for their Huanling Continent!

And the result? It turned out this gift wasn’t so easy to accept. The general’s face was dark. He recalled the declaration from yesterday’s projection, and his brow furrowed even deeper. This time, they had been too arrogant. They should have discreetly investigated the continent’s situation first. Dammit, had they truly been blinded by victory and gotten carried away?

“Redraw the battle plan,” the general said in a low voice. “All generals, assemble immediately.”

While the people from Huanling were fuming, the experts within Fu were also incredibly busy. Because of Huanling’s extremely arrogant speech, they had to clean up the mess from that projection—for example, by contacting the Green Flood Dragon King and others deep in the forest who were inclined to cooperate with them, or by going to Dragon Island to apologize to the Dragon King, who also had intentions of cooperating.

“The Huanling Continent… their language is different from ours…”

“Yes, yes, they don’t understand what ‘slave’ means. They thought it meant ‘subordinate’…”

“Oh, no, no, it’s ‘partner,’ ‘partner’… but the people from their continent are inevitably a bit arrogant, so they naturally think everyone from our continent is their subordinate…”

“Right, right, yes, yes… strength determines everything. The stronger you are, the higher your status…”

That was, more or less, how they explained it.

Nevertheless, this still caused many who had previously been interested in cooperating to change their minds and adopt a wait-and-see attitude for the time being.

Regardless, the Huanling Continent, having already invested so much in resources, energy, manpower, and materials, could no longer turn back. Not to mention, the invasion faction had already widely publicized the wealth of the Starry Sky Continent, painting a grand picture for the populace and using it to repeatedly suppress the conservationist faction. Even if this campaign would result in huge losses, it wasn’t something they could give up on so easily. If they didn’t even dare to take a bite of the fat piece of meat that had fallen into their mouths, they wouldn’t have prepared the invasion plan with all their might in the first place.