With the arrival of this news, countless officials appeared grief-stricken as if they had lost their parents. They were extremely horrified like the end of the world had arrived.
"That quickly?"
"How could they be that quick? 15 cities are gone in the blink of an eye?"
"They are all Divine level experts. With a single thought, they can split mountains and seas. With six of them joining forces, who will be able to fend them off?"
"Moreover, only six out of the 11 Sacred Generals came. Tier two and higher Divine level experts are able to move at light speed. The other five Sacred Generals will be able to come at any time."
Only the Knight Association's Chief and a few other people, who had witnessed the great battle between the Evil God Tribe's warrior and Fang Xingjian, remained calm and collected. They looked coldly at the other officials who were in a state of panic and at a loss.
When the Fourth Prince heard this news, he frowned as well, appearing troubled. Although he had not seen Fang Xingjian battling against the Evil God Tribe's warrior during the ritual, he had confidence in Fang Xingjian after having seen him fight his way to get the battle results he had today.
However, the problem now was that there were ten Divine level experts assaulting the Empire. The Empire did not have so many experts who could go up against them. If the six Divine level experts they had—including himself—were to fight them one on one, the enemies could just send one person to attack the Empire's borders.
If that were to happen, the people of the Empire would be plunged into misery and suffering.
'We must definitely not let the battle head to this direction, allowing them to engage in a fierce battle within the Empire's borders,' the Fourth Prince thought. 'I wonder where Fang Xingjian is right now. Will he rush back here?'
Just as the Fourth Prince was feeling troubled, the Black Mage King's voice rang into his ears.
In fact, the Black Mage King had been in the Imperial Capital since Fang Xingjian secluded himself for his cultivation two months ago and instructed the Black Mage King to help him guard over the Empire.
It was just that he was unwilling to reveal his identity and relationship with Fang Xingjian to too many people.
Another thing was that he did not wish to be commanded by a mere junior like the Fourth Prince.
Therefore, although he had arrived in the Imperial Capital and even stayed in the palace, he had only protected the Fourth Prince while gradually comprehending the knowledge he had inherited from the wordless monument.
It was only until today when the two countries attacked and ten Divine level experts arrived in the Empire that the Black Mage King knew he could not continue keeping himself hidden.
"Fourth Prince, I'm the Black Mage King. Leave the Steel Lion Kingdom to me. As for the Eastern Sand Region, send someone over to hold them back for now. I'll head over after dealing with the Steel Lion Kingdom."
Hearing the Black Mage King's words, the Fourth Prince's brows twitched, and he wore a gleeful look. With this Mage King level expert from the Mage Association on their side, the Fourth Prince reckoned that they would be able to push back the many experts from the Steel Lion Kingdom, even if they were unable to kill them.
Therefore, with a sweep of his glance, he looked contemptuously at the many officials who were pleading for him to make peace.
However, he could not openly bring up the matter of the Black Mage King. Therefore, he merely took note of the subjects who cried out for him to make peace, preparing to deal with them at a later time.
Fourth Prince said, "To make peace without even a single battle... If anyone dares to continue bringing down the morale of our soldiers, don't blame me for being ruthless." The Fourth Prince laughed coldly, and his aura as a Divine level expert gushed out. The many officials who had wanted him to make peace with the two countries immediately fell silent.
Then the Fourth Prince continued, "Immediately inform Tyrant, Lan Yue, and Blue Sacred Moonlight to provide support to the Eastern Sand Region. Get them to fend off the Sacred Fire Order's Patriarch."
The officials who were imploring for the Fourth Prince to make peace sighed sorrowfully. Clearly, none of them thought well of the outcome that would result from this battle between the Empire and the two countries.
With a flash, the Black Mage King headed for the Beize Region.
The Beize Region was next to the plains and could be said to be battle-ready throughout the year. Moreover, over the past several decades, Prince Philip had been guarding over the region. It was said that he had developed an impenetrable defense there.
It was a pity that the Steel Lion Kingdom had sent out six experts in total, including Prince Zuoxian who was a tier five Divine level expert. They came with great might and were hard to ward off. In just a short moment, they had already taken down 15 cities consecutively. After handing them over to be managed by other Conferred Knights behind them, they then surrounded and trapped Buluo City, which was the center of the Beize Region.
'Besieging us?' The Black Mage King smiled coldly. 'Six Divine level experts are unable to break Buluo City's formation...? Just surrounding and not attacking us... They're just trying to wipe out the reinforcements. Let me see how capable you are.
'However, it's not good if they were to discover me in this appearance.'
The Black Mage King thought of what would happen if his identity were to be exposed to the Steel Lion Kingdom. Considering the latter's relationship with the Church of Universal Truth, the Church of Universal Truth would probably come attacking immediately.
After pondering deeply for a moment, a thought struck the Black Mage King, and his conjured physique seethed momentarily. In the blink of an eye, he took on Fang Xingjian's appearance.
The Black Mage King looked at himself. 'There's no problem now.' His voice had even become exactly the same as Fang Xingjian's.
Being a tier three Divine level expert and having completed the forging of his conjured physique, the Black Mage King was able to freely separate, change, and regenerate his body. To him, changing his appearance was an easy feat. Moreover, he had been with Fang Xingjian for over a month and was now very familiar with his appearance, voice, and disposition. His transformed self was indistinguishable from the original.
...
The entirety of Buluo City had been covered up by a layer of dark clouds, both in the sky and in all four directions around it. Black fog was everywhere, and there was no hint of sunlight shining down.
It was as if Buluo City had entered into the dark night.
Prince Philip, who was currently in Buluo City, was responsible for guarding over the Beize Region and had managed it for several decades. So, when Fang Xingjian sent out his subordinates, who were Divine level experts, to guard all four sides of the Empire, Prince Philip naturally returned to his main base.
Heading up the gate tower and seeing the dark clouds not dissipating, Prince Philip's countenance was extremely grim.
When the dark clouds first appeared, he had attempted to disperse them. However, no matter what kind of attacks he performed, the dissipated dark clouds seemed to emerge from thin air and once again cover the city after just a short moment.
Prince Philip then gave up on dispersing the dark clouds so as not to waste his powers.
Looking at the dark clouds in the sky, he frowned deeply. 'They're using a formation to encase the city, but they're not attacking. Are they trying to encircle us and attack the reinforcements?
'Though, the reinforcement should be Xingjian.'
Behind Prince Philip, a blonde-haired young lady with a great figure and delicate face said, "Grandfather, when will the Empire's reinforcements arrive? Will Fang Xingjian come to render assistance personally?"
This young lady with blonde hair and blue eyes was the Arbitrator Sally, who had been responsible for handling the case concerning the Rebirth Sword Technique back in the Great Western Region. She was also Prince Philip's granddaughter.
A middle-aged man with brown hair, who had a pair of swords on his back and was standing next to the young lady, said in a deep voice, "We've sent news over. Allen's the one sending it over himself. With his speed, he'll arrive in at most an hour.
"If Fang Xingjian receives the news, he should arrive soon."
The person who spoke was Philip's son, Richard—who was simultaneously the leader of the 12 Heavenly Knights under Philip.
Right now, Richard appeared to be very worried. "Father, the forces from the northern plains are probably hard to fend off this time around. It's best for us to seek assistance from the Church as soon as possible."
Philip frowned and said, "The Imperial Preceptor has his arrangements. Don't act on your own initiatives." Philip had long known that Fang Xingjian had killed the two Guardian Kings and even gotten the Gold Mage King and Black Mage King to submit to him. They would definitely have to fight against the Church one day, so how could he possibly request for the Church's assistance?