Arrival of the Three Martial Gods’ Disciples

A few days later, Ian Song personally saw Yellow Mountain off. When he returned to the palace, his expression was a little gloomy.

These past few days, he’d been constantly thinking about why the Martial Gods were so insistent on making him dissolve the empire. After turning it over in his mind, he started to suspect it was all about qi-luck.

Before the Human Race founded its own nation, qi-luck couldn't condense, so those three Martial Gods must've had ways to share or devour it.

But after the Human Race established the empire, all that qi-luck was bestowed on him as emperor. As the empire grew stronger, the qi-luck attached to him would only increase.

On the other hand, the more qi-luck he gained, the less those three Martial Gods would receive.

If the Martial Gods wanted to reclaim qi-luck, the best way would be to make him dissolve the empire. That way, the qi-luck would leave his body and return to the world.

This line of reasoning fit together perfectly, and Ian Song felt it was highly likely.

If that was really the case, before he even faced the Demon and Monster Races, he’d first have to deal with the backlash from the three Martial Gods.

If it was just one Martial God, he might have some confidence, but facing all three at once? He wasn’t so sure.

On Oblivion Peak, inside a stone chamber with only a bowl-sized opening, Lydia Liu looked utterly defeated.

After Yellow Mountain left Oblivion Peak, she tried to secretly follow him, but just as she set out, Senior Brother Zhu caught her and locked her up in this stone chamber.

At first, she shouted and cursed, but no one paid her any attention. Nobody brought her food, either. After a few days, she was so hungry she could barely move, which made her deeply uneasy—she had a nagging feeling that her own son might end up as an enemy of the Oblivion Martial God.

A figure flashed by—Yellow Mountain appeared atop Oblivion Peak.

"Junior Brother Huang, you’re back. The Grand-Master is waiting for you—come with me!" Senior Brother Zhu’s figure appeared right behind him, his tone indifferent.

"Yes, sir!"

With Senior Brother Zhu leading the way, Yellow Mountain once again arrived at that stone forest.

"Thud!"

Yellow Mountain knelt to the ground, face full of shame. "Grand-Master, this disciple has failed your order—I couldn’t persuade Leon Huang to dissolve the empire. Please punish me!"

"No matter. You may leave." The Oblivion Martial God’s voice rang in his ear.

Leaving the stone forest, Yellow Mountain couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief.

When Yellow Mountain returned home, he found Lydia Liu sitting there fuming, her face looking quite haggard.

"Madam, what happened to you?" Yellow Mountain asked with concern.

"What do you think? I got locked up and starved for days!" Lydia Liu snapped.

"Who locked you up? Why would they do that?" Yellow Mountain’s face turned angry.

"Your Senior Brother Zhu. What, you planning to stand up for me?" Lydia Liu sneered.

"Outrageous! I’ll fight him right now!"

Yellow Mountain flew into a rage and turned to storm off after Senior Brother Zhu, but Lydia Liu grabbed his arm. "Enough, I’m just venting. With your cultivation, you couldn’t even beat one of his hands!"

"Even if I can’t win, I’ll still fight!" Yellow Mountain said, face flushed.

"Oh, stop pretending. You really think you can fool me with that little act?" Lydia Liu shot him a look.

Yellow Mountain immediately looked embarrassed. "I’m being serious!"

Lydia Liu didn’t press the issue, instead her face grew worried. "How did it go, trying to persuade our son? Is he willing to dissolve the Grand Martial Empire?"

Yellow Mountain shook his head, his face full of worry.

Seeing Yellow Mountain shake his head, Lydia Liu grew even more anxious. "Do you think, since our son defied the Grand-Master, the Grand-Master will take action against him?"

"He probably won’t, right? The Grand-Master is highly respected—he shouldn’t target a junior." Yellow Mountain said, but his tone lacked confidence.

"Highly respected? Hmph, more like cunning and ruthless." Lydia Liu snorted.

"Madam, don’t talk nonsense." Yellow Mountain scolded in a low voice.

"What, you think I’m wrong? Think about it—why did he only send you to persuade our son, but not me?"

Hearing this, Yellow Mountain looked thoughtful.

Before he could reply, Lydia Liu continued, "He was worried you wouldn’t come back, so he kept me here as a hostage. After you left, I tried to sneak after you, but they’d already prepared for it—they caught me immediately and locked me up without food for days. Tell me, if they weren’t suspicious, why wouldn’t they let me go?"

After hearing his wife’s analysis, Yellow Mountain’s face paled slightly, but he still insisted, "They probably wouldn’t do that!"

"No way!" Lydia Liu sneered. "Then go ask them. Tell them the two of us want to leave the mountain and travel. See if they'll let us go! If they do, it means they have no ulterior motives—I'll admit I was being paranoid. But if they refuse, it proves they're keeping us at Oblivion Peak just to use us against our son!"

"Fine, I'll go ask!" Yellow Mountain gritted his teeth, then stood up and headed outside.

A quarter of an hour later, Yellow Mountain returned, his face knotted with frustration. Seeing this, Lydia Liu gave a cold laugh. "Well? Was I wrong?"

Yellow Mountain said nothing. In that moment, his Grand-Master's image collapsed in his heart.

Half a month slipped by in a flash.

The Grand Martial Empire's massive state machinery kept running smoothly and methodically.

On this day, during morning court, huge shadows suddenly descended outside the palace, stirring up flying sand and rocks.

The three shadows transformed—one into a phoenix, one into a cyan bird, and one into a black raptor.

Six figures shot down from the three spirit birds—four men and two women.

Immediately, the Imperial Guards outside the palace sprang into action, quickly surrounding the six people and their three spirit birds.

The six of them acted arrogantly, ignoring the Imperial Guards as if hundreds of elite warriors were nothing to them.

One of them stepped forward, his gaze full of disdain as he looked straight at Ian Song through the palace hall. "I am Lance Lien, disciple of the Oblivion Martial God, here with my junior-brother Drake Lien to pay respects to the Grand Martial Emperor!"

A second voice immediately followed: "I am Quinn Qing, disciple of the Mistveil Martial God, here with my junior-brother to greet the Grand Martial Emperor!"

The third voice rang out, this time a woman: "I am Lena Ling, disciple of the Heavenreach Martial God, here with my junior-sister Lacey Ling to pay respects to the Grand Martial Emperor!"

The arrival of all three Martial Gods' disciples at once made every minister in the hall turn grim. Ian Song, sitting on the dragon throne, just smiled playfully. "So impatient already? The three Martial Gods really can't wait, huh?"

"Summon them!" Ian Song said crisply.

At once, the female official beside him announced loudly, "Summon the disciples of the Oblivion Martial God, Mistveil Martial God, and Heavenreach Martial God to enter and face the emperor!"

The Imperial Guards parted, and the six disciples strode unhurriedly to the center of the grand hall.

"Greetings to the Grand Martial Emperor!"

All six cupped their fists in a perfunctory salute, their expressions indifferent.

Ian Song didn't mind. He looked at the six and smiled. "So, what brings the disciples of the Martial Gods here today?"

Lance Lien, the disciple of the Oblivion Martial God, spoke first with a mocking smile. "I've come to deliver the Oblivion Martial God's decree. He hopes the Grand Martial Emperor will disband the Grand Martial Empire!"

"Quinn Qing brings the Mistveil Martial God's decree—he hopes the Grand Martial Emperor will disband the Grand Martial Empire!"

"Lena Ling brings the Heavenreach Martial God's decree—he hopes the Grand Martial Emperor will disband the Grand Martial Empire!"

The three voices echoed one after another. Instantly, every minister's face in the hall turned ugly. Many couldn't hide the worry in their eyes.