On the Dragon-Chen side, they had assembled the Dragon-Chen Legion, Wan-Xiong Legion, Flowing-Light Legion, and the newly formed Counter-Rebel Legion out of the original seven legions—a total force of more than 4.8 million.
Among them, Dragon-Chen Hall’s direct forces included 400,000 Saint Lord elites, 3,000 Saint Venerables, and over 60 peak Saint Venerables who had already advanced to the Holy Emperor Realm.
This level of strength was truly astonishing, even a little terrifying. In the past, if Evan Chu could have gathered such power, he absolutely could have swept through all the dynasties and unified the southeastern Star-River Dominion.
But now, with the Frostbane Dynasty alone suppressing them—and as a mortal enemy—even Evan Chu no longer had that kind of confidence.
No one could predict the secret strength of the Frostbane Dynasty. Without the secret support of Star-Treasure Pavilion, Evan Chu would still be blind to the real situation.
It was precisely this realization of the importance of intelligence networks that led Evan Chu to consult with Desmond Mansfield about forming the Dark Legion—Dragon-Chen Hall’s own intelligence and assassination apparatus.
Now, thanks to Star-Treasure Pavilion spreading the news and fanning the flames, word of the Frostbane Dynasty’s defeat in the first battle—1.3 million legion soldiers defecting at the front, and Evan Chu publicly announcing a preemptive counterattack—instantly swept across the entire southeastern Star-River Dominion.
For every faction and every person, this was an earth-shaking event! After all, it was an outcome no one could have imagined, no matter how hard they racked their brains.
In their eyes, suppressing rebels should have been a walk in the park for the Frostbane Dynasty!
How many years had Evan Chu been growing? How much strength did the Flowing-Light Dynasty really have? And what kind of existence was the Frostbane Dynasty?! Not to mention, Frostbane was now starting to show its claws and reveal its true power.
And yet, they lost the first battle! It was a resounding slap in the face—Holden Hong himself probably never imagined things would turn out like this.
When the news reached the Frostbane Dynasty’s base star-region, it didn’t cause much immediate impact, but many Holy Emperors there suddenly realized—where was the Frostbane Holy Emperor, Holden Hong, who was supposed to lead them into battle?
Gone? Missing? Just vanished into thin air!
"Vice General Lin, the Dragon-Chen army is now less than thirty thousand star-miles from the base star-region!"
"With the Holy Emperor gone, Vice General Lin, you decide—what should we do?"
Henry Lin stroked his chin. He had zero experience commanding three armies in a grand campaign! This kind of thing isn’t something just any super-powered cultivator can handle—unless you can personally wipe out millions of enemy soldiers single-handedly, there’s no way to turn the tide.
Even though the Frostbane Grand Army had countless experts, how to deploy troops, how to fight for maximum gain with minimum risk, how to inflict the greatest damage while avoiding casualties—all of these are the true arts of war!
Back in the day, the Frostbane Dynasty never lacked such talent—the Seven Thrones, the Four Temple Masters, they were everywhere! Even Lance Li, now a famed commander for Dragon-Chen, was only a mid-ranked figure in Frostbane’s old hierarchy.
But Holden Hong overturned all that in recent years—anyone with real leadership, true command ability, or powerful charisma, he either killed or imprisoned for his own use. Not a single one was left to serve him.
For Holden Hong, it was all about grasping power and playing with people’s hearts. What kind of strength did he want? The strength of a sharp blade—no brains, just raw cultivation, only obeying his orders and nothing else!
This kind of sharp blade may be safe—no risk of betrayal—but it has one fatal flaw: it can’t act independently. Holden Hong couldn’t leave for a moment; as for being a hands-off boss, forget it.
So now, after he mysteriously disappeared for just a few days, the Frostbane Dynasty spent ages in internal debate—yet still couldn’t come up with a plan to face the approaching Dragon-Chen Hall army.
"A plan? We’ve got nothing. Right now, we only have two choices. First, fight the enemy with our own strength—the outcome is unknown, but at least we could slow their advance, maybe even inflict heavy losses. Second, we dig in and defend. We may not be good at troop deployment, but holding this base star-region should be easy enough, right?"
Henry Lin laid out these options, and everyone fell silent. It seemed there really was no third path.
With the Holy Emperor gone, who would dare step up and rally everyone? That would look like rebellion! If Holden Hong showed up, his first move would be to kill that person. Of course, none of those present were that reckless.
Yet Henry Lin and the others had no idea—Holden Hong wasn’t just briefly missing. His disappearance instantly plunged the Frostbane Dynasty into a precarious, storm-tossed crisis.
What should have been a guaranteed victory turned, because of this one link, straight into inevitable defeat! Of course, it’s not that Evan Chu was too strong—it’s that Holden Hong was stubborn and self-absorbed. He thought he was invincible in this star-region, so before his great unification, he didn’t leave a single capable lieutenant by his side.
Evan Chu, on the other hand, was different. He could step away completely, stay on the second floor of the Seven-Star Golden Tower, and devote himself—along with Old Goldwing and Shadow—to breaking through to the next cultivation realm.
As for how the army would fight, how the battle would unfold, how to clean up the mess afterward—Evan Chu didn’t bother with any of it! Until things reached the final fever pitch, he didn’t plan to come out of seclusion at all.
Why bother? In a battle like this, even his personal combat power would be a drop in the ocean. The real candidate needed to command from behind the scenes, winning victory from a thousand miles away—and there was someone far more suited than Evan Chu himself!
Desmond Mansfield—this war was destined to be his stage, and a giant step toward his true peak. You could say Evan Chu’s foundation was already strong enough: with this power in hand, plus the Seven-Star Golden Tower, the Battle-Star Canon, the Sacred Dragon Emperor’s bloodline, and secret aid from Star-Treasure Pavilion…
Whether it was talent, potential, strength, background, connections, or personal ability, he was more than ready to challenge the central world star-region!
In other words, all Evan Chu lacked was the right moment—a decisive war, a victory or defeat, an ending that would crown him atop the southeastern Star-River Dominion. Not too much, not too little. But the key point still lay with Desmond Mansfield.
If Desmond Mansfield could keep pace with Evan Chu in the days ahead, rise to greater heights, and fulfill the Mansfield Family’s final charge—this battle would be the beginning!
From another angle, Evan Chu couldn’t really help much. Was Desmond Mansfield just a useless ornament, or a monster who could manipulate millions of experts with sheer intellect? This battle would tell all!
Evan Chu knew exactly what kind of people he needed by his side in the future, so he didn’t mind making things a little tougher for Desmond Mansfield. That’s why the call for a preemptive counterattack came from Evan Chu, not Desmond himself—and that made all the difference!