The death of Black Eagle Ancestor caused the overall strength of the Demon Race to drop another tier. From now on, even if the Demon and Devil Gods join forces, Ian Song has nothing to fear.
However, after the Land-Beast Faction absorbed the Sky-Wing Clan, their strength rose by a full tier.
Ian Song wasn’t worried about this either. He had his own weapons to deal with the flying clans. During the campaign against the Devil Race, he kept his aircraft hidden, intending to use them as secret trump cards to catch the flying races off guard.
In the blink of an eye, it was already Heaven Origin Year Thirty.
Over these years, the Grand Martial Empire had successfully digested the territories ceded by the Devil Race, making the empire even stronger.
Starting from Heaven Origin Year Twenty-Seven, Ian Song stopped involving himself in state affairs and let the Crown Prince act as regent.
Fortunately, Victor Huang did not disappoint him.
After seven or eight years of tempering, he now handled state matters with skill and confidence—fully qualified to be a proper emperor.
Once he stepped away from state affairs, Ian Song spent most of his time cultivating and with his four wives, occasionally sneaking off to the Fox Clan for secret meetings with Serena Fox.
He had already decided that when he returned for good, he wouldn’t take anyone with him. He’d collected enough spirit crystals to use the Divine Temple’s shuttling power to travel back and forth between the real world and this one hundreds of times.
Besides, Harriet Gu, Snow Yue, and Lynn Ning were all natives of this world; moving to the real world might not suit them.
As for Tessa Heavenreach, over these thirty years, her cultivation had improved greatly. Last night, when Ian Song spent the night with her, she mentioned that her sense of the higher realm was becoming clearer, and that it was even calling to her.
According to her estimate, she’ll be able to ascend to the higher realm within at most ten years.
Ian Song had no objection to Tessa Heavenreach ascending; after all, it had been her lifelong dream.
As for whether they’d be able to meet again, Ian wasn’t worried—he had a feeling that one day, he’d be able to travel freely among countless worlds.
Another thing: all three of his daughters were married. His eldest, Winter Huang, married Ray Lei, son of Raymond Lei. It wasn’t a political match, but true love. Ray Lei was outstanding, but chose not to join the military—instead, he entered the Civil Ministry, and now serves as a fifth-rank prefect.
In Heaven Origin Year Twenty-Nine, Winter Huang gave birth to a son, making Ian Song a proud grandfather.
His second daughter, Lia Huang, married Elder Gerald Jiang’s grandson, Jiang Tianming—also for love.
His youngest daughter, Stellan Huang, married a disciple of the Pristine Way Sect.
Pristine Way Sect was the only sect in the world that hadn’t been cut down, but Ian Song still served as its sect master.
Since Ian Song was sect master of Pristine Way, he took extra care of its disciples—at least a third of the Imperial Guard came from Pristine Way.
Lia Huang, that lively girl, found palace life too stifling, so she secretly slipped out, planning to roam the world with her sword.
But she had no idea that Ian Song was watching her every move. Rather than stop her, he sent two Imperial Guards to protect her in secret.
Raised in the palace, Lia Huang was naive and inexperienced, so she often ran into trouble outside. Naturally, the hidden Imperial Guards would step in to help.
After spending so much time together, Lia Huang and one of the Imperial Guards slowly fell in love.
Ian Song wasn’t hung up on status, and since the young man was genuinely outstanding, he didn’t interfere. He let things take their course and personally granted their marriage.
Lastly, let’s talk about Nathan Huang.
After losing the struggle for Crown Prince, Nathan Huang threw himself into the army. Seven or eight years of hard work later, he’s now a Deputy General. Still unmarried, but his cultivation has reached the Martial Saint realm.
As for Victor Huang, the Crown Prince, he married the Crown Princess in his second year as heir, and in the following years took four secondary consorts—one more wife than his old man. Still, he never lost himself in romance; he managed state affairs and kept improving his cultivation, and this spring, he stepped into the Martial Saint realm too.
In Ian Song’s view, when Victor Huang becomes emperor, he’ll inherit the power of his father’s imperial qi-luck as well.
As for Ian Song’s own cultivation, his martial path had reached peak Martial Saint for years but he still hadn’t touched the Martial God realm. He vaguely sensed that unless he abdicated and retreated into secluded cultivation, he might never achieve Martial God.
On the Immortal-Dao side, he was only half a step from Nascent Soul. He might break through tomorrow, or it could take another ten years.
After thirty years, the Heavenworks Institute had grown enormously. Its research now covered not just technology but also runes and formations, leading to the creation of many new weapons.
The next day, morning court.
Victor Huang, as Crown Prince, was accepting the court’s homage.
Since Heaven Origin Year Twenty-Seven, Ian Song had gradually delegated power. By now, he hadn’t attended morning court for months; every session was presided over by the Crown Prince.
“The Emperor arrives!”
Suddenly, a female official’s voice rang out.
Victor Huang, seated at the side, quickly rose and stepped down, just as Ian Song entered the hall in his dragon robe.
Victor Huang immediately knelt: “Your son greets the Emperor!”
The ministers hurriedly bowed: “We greet Your Majesty!”
Though the Crown Prince was acting as regent, Ian Song’s prestige as emperor had only grown stronger.
“Crown Prince, rise. Ministers, rise as well!”
Ian Song raised his hand and strode to the dragon throne, sitting down with majestic authority.
After the ministers rose, they couldn’t help but wonder—His Majesty hadn’t attended court for days; surely something important was happening today.
Just as the ministers expected, Ian Song revealed his purpose for attending court: launching a campaign against the Demon Race.
Tiger King had spent seven years unifying the Sky-Wing Clan, swelling their strength and now plotting to conquer the Sea Clan.
If Tiger King managed to subdue the Sea Clan, the Demon Race would become a unified force—making them much harder to defeat. Ian Song, who’d hoped to linger in this world, had to move up his campaign against the Demon Race.
With Ian Song’s order, the empire moved like a giant, precise machine—swift and powerful.
Thanks to convenient transportation, within ten days, a ten-million-strong army had assembled at the Human-Demon border.
Such a huge mobilization couldn’t escape the Demon Race’s notice. Tiger King soon learned of the Human army’s advance and was furious.
Though he still had some fear of Ian Song, years had dulled it. He mobilized twelve million troops and marched to the border.
Half a month later.
The armies of Human and Demon finally clashed. The Demon forces were stunned by the Human army’s tactics: first came the Spirit-Crystal Cannons, then the Spirit-Crystal Rifles, and finally the Spirit-Crystal Thunder Grenades.
Tiger King suffered a major setback at first contact and immediately sent a million flying troops to attack the Human army. But before they could reach the Human lines, thousands of Spirit-Crystal Anti-Air Cannons blasted them from the sky. Stealth fighters then took off to hunt down the surviving Sky-Wing demons.