After merging Lydia Hong's Red Lark Legion troops, the original Dragon-Chen Legion main force, and Nathan Star's returning vanguard, Evan Chu now commands a total of 160,000 soldiers.
That doesn't even include the more than 30,000 stationed at Pearl-Mountain Star-Region. If you add them all together, it's nearly 200,000 elites—already the combined strength of two elite legions. The Dragon-Chen Legion is now unprecedentedly powerful.
Now, under the unified command of Nathan Yates and Lance Li, these elite forces are marching in grand formation straight toward the Flowing-Light Dynasty's star-region.
Even the newly joined Lydia Hong and the still-watching Lena Lin couldn't believe it—over 200,000 legion soldiers, all moving as one.
"What is Throne Chu trying to do?"
"He... he's not really going to... attack the Flowing-Light Dynasty directly, is he?"
"Sure, the Dragon-Chen Legion is insanely strong now, and there are plenty of Saint Emperor-level experts, but that's still a dynasty we're talking about. Even a dying camel is bigger than a horse—everyone knows that, right? Besides, no matter how weak a dynasty gets, there's no way a single legion could wipe it out!"
"Then what does this even mean...?"
Everyone was full of questions, but even more people were just fired up.
Damn, rolling up to Flowing-Light like this—even if there's no fighting, just standing at their gate and showing off is already wild! Seriously, who else in the whole Star-River Dominion has the guts and swagger to pull this off? Only our Throne Chu!
Wait, that's not right—now the Throne has already been promoted to Master of Dragon-Chen Hall! Such a young, genius powerhouse, he's basically the mold I ought to copy! If you're gonna live, you've gotta be as bold and domineering as Evan Chu!
Two hundred thousand elite troops, marching with pride and ferocity straight into the Flowing-Light Dynasty—the sheer spectacle is enough to scare anyone out of their wits.
A dynasty-level base star-region is far vaster than any ordinary small star-region. It's not just a simple star-mine depot anymore—every city and territory is clearly divided, and within the base star-region, there are even independent pocket worlds. The environment is almost like the Frostbane Six Realms, with flowers, birds, fish, and insects for people to enjoy. After all, in a star-region ruled by stellar power, it's no easy feat to gather such things.
Dragon-Chen Legion had barely finished assembling when the Flowing-Light Dynasty's supreme council hall started scrambling for a response. As soon as Dragon-Chen's army camped right outside their gates—two hundred thousand troops glaring from beyond the border—the top brass inside the main hall were thrown into utter chaos.
"That damn Evan Chu! Does he really think we're scared of him? Even if we end up offending the Frostbane Dynasty for good, we'll fight him to the bitter end—we can't let the name of Flowing-Light be disgraced!"
"Hmph! Some punk kid, just got lucky and landed the Master of Dragon-Chen Hall seat, and now he thinks he's above the law? I'm Leon Li, and I'm the first to refuse! I'll lead the Xiao-Cloud Legion out and fight him head-on!"
"That's right! Let him know—even if our Flowing-Light Dynasty isn't as strong as Frostbane, we're not about to let some mere legion come here and provoke us! Besides, we've got way more Holy Emperor-level experts in our base than their legion ever will!"
But seeing all these people, the Holy Emperor's heart grew bitter. Warren Wu had already told him the inside story—how could he dare make a reckless move now?
"Everyone, I understand your feelings, but... I think it's best not to fight. Things aren't as simple as we imagine. Forget Frostbane—just the Savage Brotherhood alone, if we clash with Dragon-Chen Legion today, we'll face even more brutal retaliation in the future. Then... we'll be the ones truly in danger."
"But, Your Majesty! Are we really just going to let them stand above our base star-region, shouting and mocking us?!"
At that moment, the generals who'd been clamoring for war began to shoot resentful looks toward a certain corner of the hall. Everyone knew exactly who was standing there.
Warren Wu—the old man who'd been urging the Holy Emperor not to give the order to fight.
But now, Warren Wu seemed to realize his own predicament. If he kept silent, it would be hard for him to stay in Flowing-Light Dynasty, and even with the Holy Emperor's protection, it wouldn't be easy.
So Warren Wu looked at the crowd and spoke up.
"In my opinion, Evan Chu's arrival at our Flowing-Light Dynasty isn't actually hostile. In fact, this might be another opportunity for us."
If Warren Wu hadn't said it, things might've been fine—but as soon as he did, it instantly sparked even more anger!
"Warren Wu, what do you mean by that? Dragon-Chen Legion is our enemy. Are you saying we should negotiate with them?"
"Heh, interests come first. There's no such thing as eternal friends or enemies. Before this dynasty war broke out, we had absolutely nothing to do with Dragon-Chen Legion. If there hadn't been a clash of interests, we wouldn't have crossed paths at all.
But now, time waits for no one. And I know even more clearly—Dragon-Chen Legion is far more than what you see on the surface."
Warren Wu hadn't spelled it out, but his meaning was obvious. The Holy Emperor could already pick up the deeper implications from his words.
"Everyone, quiet down—let Elder Wu finish what he has to say."
"It's actually quite simple. From what I see, Evan Chu only came to our Flowing-Light Dynasty for one particular item. Let's not talk about what it is for now. The item itself doesn't directly affect our dynasty's future or development, but it's still extremely important!"
"Warren Wu, the more you talk, the more confusing it gets!"
Some people were already getting impatient, waiting for Warren Wu to just spit it out.
"There's nothing hard to understand. What I mean is, while this item doesn't mean much to our Flowing-Light Dynasty, it's a huge deal for Evan Chu. So, what happens to this item will directly affect our future relationship with Dragon-Chen Legion.
In fact, whether our dynasty will rise or fall in the future depends on whether we seize this opportunity—and whether we make the right choice!
With Warren Wu's words, many people finally understood.
What he meant was, they should hand over that item, make nice with Evan Chu—maybe even try to curry favor! If Evan Chu becomes even more powerful in the future, Flowing-Light Dynasty might benefit from this connection. And even if they don't, at least they won't end up in an even worse situation.
That was basically the idea, but who could accept such a proposal once they understood? Who were they? What did Flowing-Light Dynasty stand for?
If they had to give up their dignity just to please Evan Chu, wouldn't that be telling the whole world that Flowing-Light Dynasty was afraid of him?
Warren Wu let out a quiet sigh, then gave the Holy Emperor a long, heavy look. "I really do think this is an opportunity."