101: The Cloud Kingdom collapsed, and fragments fell.

"It's over."

At the Wu Dynasty's Imperial City, within the Imperial Palace's rear garden.

In the pavilion.

Xia Xuan and Gu Qingxian played a game of Go.

On the chessboard, lines crisscrossed, and black and white pieces were scattered, illustrating the distribution of Luck across the Four Seas and Five Regions.

In Zhongzhou, True Dragons and Divine Phoenixes were entrenched.

In the Western Desert, Blood Dragons and Golden Armor were entangled.

In the Eastern Territory, a Canglong was beached, emanating black Qi.

In Southern Xinjiang, an ancient evergreen tree withered, subjugated beneath the wings of a Divine Phoenix.

In Beiyuan, a phantom wolf god howled at the moon, its body expanding, oozing purple Devilish Qi, coveting the lands of Zhongzhou.

Xia Xuan, as the player, placed a piece in the Western Desert.

The True Dragon of the Wu Dynasty in Zhongzhou awakened, its Dragon flames burning towards the Western Desert, incinerating the young Blood Dragon.

The Blood Dragon, formed less than two months ago, spat out its Dragon Pearl in its dying moments, a bloody light piercing through the chessboard and landing at the border between the Eastern Territory and Beiyuan.

Gu Qingxian followed the world's trends, placing pieces to deduce the latest changes on the board.

Above the Heavenly Abyss, the Cloud Country Celestial Palace, hidden in the Nine Heavens, suddenly underwent a drastic change.

The bloody light shattered the last few pillars supporting the Yun Kingdom, rapidly accelerating its collapse.

Fragments fell into the Heavenly Abyss, Beiyuan, and the Eastern Territory.

This allowed the ferocious phantom wolf god to feast, leaping down from the sacred mountain, completely free from the suppression of the Wu Dynasty's Dragon might.

The Canglong in the Eastern Territory also shed most of its black Death Qi, returning to the boundless sea.

"Your Majesty, with the collapse of the Yun Kingdom, the Luck of the entire Four Seas and Five Regions is in turmoil, indicating an impending catastrophe."

Gu Qingxian reminded softly.

"Blessings and misfortunes are intertwined. The premature collapse of the Yun Kingdom, while benefiting Beiyuan and the Eastern Territory, deprived those Deities of much preparation time. Next, we just wait for them to be driven to desperation."

Xia Xuan glanced at the phantom Divine Phoenix on the chessboard, poised to take flight in Zhongzhou. His fingertip hesitated slightly before finally placing a piece in the northern lands... on the Nine Heavens.

Cloud Country Celestial Palace.

"Damn ants, to actually covet the land of the Divine! All of them should be killed!"

"No! Our Carefree Land! Tianjun, quickly remedy this!"

"When the Yun Kingdom was first established, this day was foreseen. But why, why were we not even given time to transfer our people?"

Within the Cloud Country's cloud soil, slumbering Deities revived one by one.

Among them, some were incredibly furious, while others, watching their Carefree Land, which had existed for countless years, collapse overnight, could not accept the blow and spoke in madness.

The citizens residing in the Yun Kingdom, still immersed in a life of debauchery, did not understand what was happening before they were forever buried with the falling fragments of the Yun Kingdom.

"Concentrate Divine Power, protect the Heavenly Fortress Core! It must not fall into the Heavenly Abyss!"

The Yun Kingdom Heavenly Lord commanded in a deep voice, his sleeves billowing, continuously channeling Divine Power to maintain the less than one-thousandth core area of the Heavenly Fortress.

"Tianjun, the Yun Kingdom is destroyed. Is there any meaning in what we do now?"

An ancient Deity who had just awakened asked mournfully.

"In the past, our ancestors could forge this Carefree Land; we can rebuild it too."

The Yun Kingdom Heavenly Lord's voice was authoritative, resounding in the ears of every Deity.

"The Reincarnation nodes of the Four Seas and Five Regions are a calamity for the Yun Kingdom, but also an opportunity for its rebirth. As long as we can preserve the Heavenly Fortress Core and then sever the world's Spiritual Veins, allowing Origin Qi to return to the Nine Heavens, the Yun Kingdom can be rebuilt, perhaps even more glorious than before!"

Upon hearing this, the Deities' minds settled.

"That's right, as long as we are still here, the Yun Kingdom is not destroyed."

"Isn't the current environment of the Four Seas and Five Regions a great opportunity for our Yun Kingdom to be reborn?"

One by one, the Yun Kingdom Deities emerged from their sorrow, standing beside the Tianjun, maintaining the final core so it would not collapse further.

"Shift towards Zhongzhou, where the Origin Qi is densest!"

The progress of the shift was slow, but in their eyes, it represented infinite hope... Sun Moon Imperial Dynasty.

Divine Phoenix Palace, court assembly.

Shangguan Yue was still in charge of governance.

"Reporting, Female Chancellor, the Western Desert campaign has concluded."

The commander of the Divine Phoenix Imperial Guard held a communication jade slip, his expression slightly changed, reporting in the hall.

The assembled officials listened intently.

They were eager to know the outcome, to prove the correctness of their previous proposals.

"Just report directly." Shangguan Yue raised her gaze, her emotions not showing much fluctuation.

"The Great Wu Dynasty's two Divine Extreme Realm chief generals, each leading hundreds of thousands of troops, entered the Western Desert, winning battle after battle."

"Not long ago, the White Robe Army launched a surprise attack on Blood Fiend Imperial City, annihilating twenty thousand Iron-Blooded Cavalry and all members of the Blood Fiend Sect."

"Their commander fought against the Loulan Divine General, gaining the upper hand..."

"Now, the entire fifty deserts of the Blood Fiend Dynasty have fallen into the Great Wu Dynasty's hands."

"Xia Ying has been confirmed dead. Before her death, she triggered a sea of blood, shattering the Yun Kingdom, causing a gush of spiritual Origin Qi and an intensification of anomalies in Beiyuan and the Eastern Territory."

"Also, scouts report that Loulan seems to have the intention of forming an alliance with the Great Wu Dynasty and has already dispatched an envoy to the Great Wu Dynasty's Imperial City..."

She finished her report.

Inside the hall, the expressions of the officials were a mix of astonishment, shock, lingering fear, and shame, among other emotions.

The only commonality was that they all bowed their heads at this moment, not daring to meet Shangguan Yue's gaze.

Their initial assertiveness in applying pressure was matched by their current shame and regret.

If they had truly followed their own advice and allied with the Blood Fiend Dynasty to resist the Great Wu Dynasty, perhaps the Great Wu Dynasty's army would have already invaded the Sun Moon Imperial Dynasty, and they would not have had the chance to hold a peaceful court assembly here.

"This, this, the Great Wu Dynasty's development speed is simply too fast. I remember back then, even at its peak under the leadership of the Martial Emperor, the Great Wu Dynasty could not have such terrifying armies and national strength."

After a long silence, a high-ranking official sighed, "The Xuan Emperor's ambition is evident. The prosperity of the Great Wu Dynasty is by no means a good thing for our Sun Moon Imperial Dynasty."

"In the future, if he turns his spearhead towards our Sun Moon Imperial Dynasty, what should we do?"

"Although the Xuan Emperor is favored by Heaven, the Sun Moon Imperial Dynasty's foundation is not something the Great Wu Dynasty can easily shake."

The commander of the Divine Phoenix Imperial Guard replied coolly.

Hearing her words, the officials remained uneasy. Slowly, they all raised their heads, seeking Shangguan Yue's opinion.

"There's no need to worry needlessly. The current focus is on deploying that Formation in every inch of our territory."

"And there's no need to ask further about the Yun Kingdom; Her Majesty the Empress already has a countermeasure."

Shangguan Yue pondered for a moment, unrolled a blank scroll, sketched a few strokes with her brush, and handed it to the commander of the Divine Phoenix Imperial Guard, instructing:

"Recall all Sun Moon citizens who are abroad, and leave this in the Great Wu Dynasty. When the time is right in the future, hand it over to the Xuan Emperor."

"Yes!" The commander of the Divine Phoenix Imperial Guard respectfully accepted the order.

The officials were bewildered.

This time, however, no one raised any further questions.

Having learned from past mistakes, they chose to listen more, observe more, and speak cautiously.

Shangguan's decisions, it seemed, had not been wrong since she took office until now.

The court assembly concluded.

Shangguan Yue came to the Divine Phoenix Imperial Harem.

She looked up at the sky and sighed softly.

The tribulation clouds above Tianzhou in the Sun Moon Imperial Dynasty had never completely dissipated.

Even in broad daylight, above the Nine Heavens, invisible to ordinary people, terrifying lightning was brewing.

The remaining Luck of the Great Yan Divine Dynasty attracted the envy of Heaven.

Her Majesty the Empress carried the most Luck. She and a group of Divine Officials, ruling the Sun Moon Imperial Dynasty, were not tolerated by this world.

As time passed, these chaotic lightning bolts would continuously grow stronger until they accumulated enough power to destroy the entire Sun Moon Imperial Dynasty, then they would erupt.