Although Sunrise Sect is also a major sect with seven Martial Saints, most are needed to command the army, so only three Martial Saints stayed behind to defend the sect.
Faced with a siege by a hundred Dragon Guards, these three Martial Saints didn't even have a chance to resist—they were killed in just a dozen breaths.
Next—
A slaughter began.
The hundred Dragon Guards rampaged through Sunrise Sect like a violent storm. In less than half an hour, every martial artist above grandmaster level was killed without exception.
A quarter of an hour later—
Ian Song appeared with a hundred Dragon Guards right in the midst of Sunrise Sect’s army at the Southeast Imperial Province’s capital.
Before everyone’s eyes, the other four Martial Saints and all the grandmaster-level generals were slain by the Dragon Guard.
That day—
A ten-thousand-strong imperial army swept in from the Southern Province and invaded the Southeast Imperial Province.
With Sunrise Sect’s army leaderless and no top experts to hold the line, the battle lasted less than an hour before they suffered a crushing defeat.
At the same time, two more imperial armies—each fifty thousand strong—charged in from the west and north of the Southeast Imperial Province.
With all three armies working together, Sunrise Sect’s forces were routed again and again.
In just three days, the Southeast Imperial Province returned to imperial control.
News of Sunrise Sect’s fate quickly spread across the realm, sending chills through every rebellious sect and leaving their leaders sleepless with dread.
On the fourth day—
After Skyblade Sect—the largest sect in the North Imperial Province—had its grandmaster-level and above experts slaughtered by the Dragon Guard, the imperial army followed up and, again within three days, restored the North Imperial Province to imperial rule.
The fate of Sunrise Sect and Skyblade Sect left the other rebellious sects terrified. To save themselves, two sects from the Northwest and West Imperial Provinces tried to form an alliance to resist the empire.
But before they could finalize their agreement, the Great Martial Emperor led the Dragon Guard to their door and wiped out all grandmaster-level and above experts from both sects.
For a moment—
The remaining twenty-four rebellious provinces saw their sects abruptly halt their offensives. Meanwhile, sects from four provinces began contacting the imperial authorities, expressing willingness to surrender.
However, just as those four sects were reaching out to the authorities—
In just one day, the Great Martial Emperor led the Dragon Guard to bloodily purge the leading rebellious sects in five provinces, wiping out their top experts.
When the news broke, it scared the remaining fifteen sects so badly that they all declared their willingness to return to imperial rule.
Ten days later—
The leaders and top elders of nineteen sects that had escaped the bloodbath arrived at the Holy Capital one after another to beg forgiveness.
In response, the Great Martial Emperor laid down two conditions: First, all sects must surrender any territory beyond a thousand li from their mountain gates. Second, no sect may have more than a thousand members.
Naturally, the representatives of the nineteen sects balked at such harsh terms and argued fiercely with the imperial officials.
But then an imperial edict came down from the palace: "Those who do not agree will have their sect exterminated."
Those six simple words seemed to carry a terrifying power. The sect representatives, who had just been arguing themselves red in the face, immediately fell silent and agreed to the empire’s two conditions.
Heavenreach Sea.
A woman clad in silver armor and drenched in blood was flying low over the sea at breakneck speed. Her face was pale and haggard, and the green sword in her hand was chipped in several places.
Several kilometers behind her, an elderly man with white hair and beard, and a middle-aged man in green robes, were chasing relentlessly.
That’s right—these three were Oblivion Martial God, Mistveil Martial God, and Heavenreach Martial God.
After plotting in secret, Oblivion and Mistveil Martial Gods set up an ambush to kill Heavenreach Martial God. Their supposedly foolproof plan had a small flaw, allowing Heavenreach to escape in the end.
Oblivion and Mistveil weren’t angry about this slip-up—just a little disappointed. Heavenreach had escaped, but their combined assault had left her seriously wounded. To prevent a desperate counterattack, they kept trailing her like cats playing with a mouse, waiting for her strength to run out before finishing her off.
“Junior Sister, you might as well surrender. Do you really think you can escape the two of us working together? If you give up now, you’ll suffer a lot less. What do you say?” Mistveil Martial God shouted, his voice tinged with mockery.
Heavenreach Martial God’s eyes flashed with pain at his words, but she kept silent and continued her desperate flight.
The three of them had all apprenticed under the same master.
The eldest brother took four hundred thirty-six years to break through to Martial God realm— and that was with their master’s help.
The second brother needed four hundred years to reach Martial God level.
But she—Heavenreach Martial God—had only needed a little over two hundred twenty years. She was the most gifted of the three, which made both her senior brothers extremely jealous.
She’d never paid their jealousy much mind, but she never imagined her two senior brothers would actually turn on her—trying to kill her and take her godhead.
She knew that, at this point, she was probably doomed, but she refused to give in. Even if escape was impossible, she wasn’t about to surrender—she kept struggling on.
“Junior Sister, why make things so hard on yourself? If you stop now, I promise on my honor you’ll get a quick death!” Oblivion Martial God called out, his voice tinged with regret.
She cursed him for his shamelessness.
Being the youngest, she didn’t crave qi‑luck as much as her brothers did. Those two were both well over five hundred years old—without qi‑luck to sustain them, they’d have died long ago. That’s why they valued it so obsessively.
“Heh, little Junior Sister, I’m only trying to help you out. But if you keep struggling, once we catch you, I’ll make sure you suffer the worst torments imaginable!” Oblivion Martial God’s voice turned especially sinister.
Holy Capital, Imperial Palace.
A sheet of white paper lay on the imperial desk. Ian Song stood before it, brush in hand, writing with free, powerful strokes.
The internal rebellion was over, and he’d cut the sect world’s strength by more than ninety percent. From now on, even if the sects wanted to rebel, they’d be powerless. As for the Seven Great Battlefronts, he’d already sent over eight million troops to reinforce them, so he wasn’t worried about the Demon and Monster Races breaking through.
The only thing that puzzled him was that the three Martial Gods hadn’t interfered at all with his pacification of the rebellion, making the whole process unusually smooth. Naturally, the bloody ‘gift’ he’d prepared for them couldn’t be delivered either.
Of course, what Ian didn’t know was that while he was pacifying the rebellion, Oblivion and Mistveil Martial Gods were busy hunting Heavenreach. They were also overconfident—never believing Ian could restore order so quickly.
With a thought, Ian turned his attention inward.
Earlier, when twenty-eight provinces rebelled, his internal qi‑luck had dropped by nearly half, greatly weakening him. But now, with the rebellion crushed and those provinces restored, all that lost qi‑luck had returned to him.
And because he’d crippled the sects and strengthened imperial rule, his qi‑luck had risen another thirty percent above its previous peak. He had a hunch that once the census and nationwide schooling were complete, his qi‑luck would go up at least another twenty percent—at that point, suppressing the Martial Gods would be a breeze.
If he could also defeat and annex the Demon and Monster Races, his qi‑luck would be so strong he could tear open the heavens themselves and step into a higher world.
Suddenly, Ian’s expression changed—he sensed three overwhelming auras flying straight toward the Holy Capital.
"So the Three Martial Gods are finally coming?"
His gaze sharpened. With a flicker, he appeared in the skies outside the Holy Capital, where three black dots were speeding his way.