[At this moment, the Dragon-Man tribe felt the same fear the Demon Tribe once faced against the "Red-Haired Demon Slayer."]
["What the hell is this guy's deal?! Why do our attacks have absolutely no effect on him??"]
["Our tribe's Martial Saint, who specializes in physical body strength, was crushed into pulp by one of his kicks—does that even make sense??"]
["This is too terrifying... No wonder the Realm Master said that while most humans are mediocre, a peerless powerhouse can appear at any time!"]
[You, having entered the "Extreme Rage" state, were far too overpowered.]
[Combined with the human world coalition's death-defying fighting style—a ferocity never seen in this expeditionary army's conquests across countless realms—it genuinely shook them to the core.]
[The remaining two and a half Earth Venerables, seeing the situation turn sour, had no choice but to order a retreat.]
["All troops, withdraw five hundred miles east of the edge of the Air-Banning Grand Array!"]
[Your Extreme Rage state couldn't be maintained indefinitely.]
[Extreme anger is also a drain on one's spirit; it's impossible to sustain for long.]
[When your reason returned a little, you still wanted to continue pounding the Dragon-Men and tried to re-enter Extreme Rage, only to find you couldn't.]
["It seems 'Extreme Rage' requires external stimulation and can't be achieved through subjective willpower. No wonder it's classified as a hidden effect."]
[The Dragon-Men who left the Air-Banning zone were like birds freed from their cage or fish leaping into the vast sea. They scattered extremely wide, far apart from each other.]
[Even if you could re-enter Extreme Rage, you wouldn't be able to inflict large-scale casualties on them now.]
[You ordered the entire army to retreat into Cangqiong Ridge, rest and reorganize, hold the defensive line, and have scouts patrol north and south, keeping a close watch on enemy movements.]
[Year seventy-six, age ninety-five.]
["Chirp—"]
["Boom—"]
[A massive fireball arced across the sky in a parabola, crashing into the mountain forest. It smashed half a mountain peak flat on the spot and ignited a vast swath of woodland.]
[Old Zhang was a menial soldier in the Third Battalion of the Bingchen Army of the human world coalition.]
[He wasn't a martial artist. Over fifty years old and a farmer by birth, he already looked very old.]
["Hurry! Chop and clear all the trees and grass in front! Burn the firebreak so the fire stops here on its own!"]
[Old Zhang and the menial soldiers of the Third Battalion were responsible for clearing the fires in this area to prevent the flames from spreading.]
[Fireballs still streaked across the sky, but they seemed not to see them, burying their heads in their work.]
[Old Zhang's son was also a member of the menial army.]
["Dad, those alien races are still bombing us. It's been a whole year—don't their shells ever run out?"]
[Old Zhang chuckled.]
["Those bastards traveled thousands of miles to get here. Do you think they'd just give up because of a single Air-Banning Array from God Yi? Right now, they just can't think of a countermeasure, so they're bombing us out of spite, doing something rather than nothing."]
["Today is the big day when that Southern Borderlands Female Emperor accepts the abdication from the Great Qian Emperor. I was thinking of going to see that grand spectacle."]
["We're in the middle of a war. What festivities can there be? Everything's been simplified. Hurry up and clear the firebreak, or if the fire reaches the camp, the punishment will be severe!"]
[Just as Old Zhang, his son, and a group of menial soldiers were busy working...]
[Another fireball flew in from the distance and landed right near them...]
[Those who participated in this world war were not limited to martial artists.]
[Those who sacrificed their lives were not limited to martial artists either.]
[They may not leave behind their names, but they all deserve to be remembered.]
[At the Command Camp's garrison site, a rather crude abdication platform had been built.]
[Here, a grand abdication ceremony was being held, one that drew the attention of the entire human world.]
[Great Qian Emperor Li Chengqian recognized the legitimate status of Female Emperor Li Lingyue and decided to abdicate the throne, signifying the complete unification of the Five Regions.]
["We, having received the mandate of the vast heavens and inherited the great foundation of our ancestors, have held the reins of power for decades, laboring day and night in reverence. Yet the Way of Heaven is profound and distant, and the cycle of fate has its return. The virtue of the feminine principle shines brightly, and the divine vessel must be transferred. Proclaim hereby to the Princess Taiping, styled Lingyue, of the legitimate bloodline of Great Qian..."]
[The lengthy abdication edict was written with heartfelt sincerity, quoting the classics and touching the soul.]
[However, this was merely for show, to be seen by the world.]
[The real reason Li Chengqian abdicated to Li Lingyue was to make it easier for Li Lingyue to possess more Female Emperor Temples and loyal followers, providing her with the power of faith.]
[The Free and Unfettered God had fallen. The Seven Luminaries were one short. You had to create a seventh Martial God.]
[Fortunately, the major powers of the Five Regions and yourself could all be considered one family.]
[Everyone spoke openly and frankly, laying out the pros and cons.]
[You wanted the Female Emperor to become the sole emperor of the world, for the common people to erect temples for her and offer incense, so her cultivation level could rise faster.]
[This proposal received support from all parties.]
[Although there was some resistance, after a year of mediation and negotiation, everything was settled.]
[After the abdication ceremony, the Female Emperor had to return to the Central Plains to formally ascend the throne.]
[She still had many things to do.]
[To gain loyal followers, a mere edict would not be enough.]
[The Female Emperor had to prove she was more worthy of the people's support than the original emperor.]
[Under the fireballs that occasionally streaked across the sky, you watched the Female Emperor board the Peacock Imperial Carriage and return to the Central Plains.]
[The One-Line-Sky Grand Array blocked this Dragon-Man army.]
[Over the past year, they had tried to go around, only to find that the Air-Banning Grand Array didn't end even when they flew to the vast seas on both the northern and southern sides of the continent.]
[The coverage of a Super Immortal Array was indeed vast, but in reality, you could only manage to cover the entire Cangqiong Ridge.]
[The reason the Dragon-Man tribe still encountered the Air-Banning effect when they reached the seaside was that you had been chasing them the whole way, adjusting the array's coverage area in time.]
[Seeing that a frontal assault wouldn't work and taking a detour was impossible, this Dragon-Man army could only hide outside the Air-Banning zone and use special long-range weapons to bombard the Cangqiong Ridge area.]
[This forced the human world coalition's garrison to relocate every three days for a minor move and every five days for a major one.]
[What was most troubling was...]
[Some of their weapons could actually reach the Central Plains region, striking cities and villages directly.]
[Thus, the brutality of the world war entered every household, and everyone felt endangered.]
[The most urgent matter for the Female Emperor upon her return was to appease the people's hearts and ensure the stable operation of production and agriculture.]
[Martial artists were human too; they needed to eat.]
[With so many people fighting, just the supply of grain alone was enough to give any commander a splitting headache.]
[Fortunately, Great Qian's chancellor, Qin Rong, was in the rear, fully responsible for the transport of supplies along the grain routes, and there had been no shortage of provisions so far.]
[This treacherous minister's professional competence made you look at him with new respect.]
[And as you had expected, his loyalty wasn't in the wrong place.]
[On a high peak, you and Hua Wuyan were gazing at the Dragon-Man tribe's war machines in the distance.]
["Chen Yi, the Dragon-Man tribe keeps using this kind of attack to drain our resources and population. We can't go on like this, and... my lifespan is almost up."]
[Hua Wuyan wore a worried expression.]
["Senior Hua, I've been thinking about a question lately."]
["What?"]
["Say... do you think those large machines of theirs, the devices used to control war beasts, the Magic Bullet Cannons, and the Five-Element Demon Spirit Spirit Pearls... do they count as Spirit Artifacts?"]
