The Heavenly Spiritual Image was the treasure of the Sage. Although it could only be used once, it could seal the entire world, trapping all True Spirits within it.
Within the spiritual image, if a dream master were to die, they would die in their own world as well!
"You….. you cannot kill me!"
The 3 Tailed Spiritual Fox could feel the murderous vibe on Fang Yuan's body as it shuddered in fear. "Even though you care nothing about my backing, don't you want to know what the Hidden Dragon Guards have planned in this realm? Even King Xi doesn't deserve to know the plan..."
"That's right! Then be honest about it!"
Fang Yuan was tempted to know.
Seeing this, the white fox was elated. "As long as you are willing to release me, I am willing to tell you everything... ah! What are you doing?"
"Whoosh!"
With the glitter of a sword radiance, a streak of lightning came down which struck the 3 Tailed Spiritual Fox and charred it. As Fang Yuan stretched his hands out, he grabbed hold of a Yin Spirit before chaining it up with 4 streaks of sword essence.
"You have too many tricks up your sleeve... Furthermore, I only need to know what the Hidden Dragon Guards intent to do. I wouldn't believe anything else you say!"
Fang Yuan appeared calm. As the 4 streaks of sword essence began to entangle with each other, the Yin Spirit let out a scream before disappearing in a puff of green smoke.
"This is what you get for failing to get my trust..."
After dispersing the 4 Emblems Sword Array, Fang Yuan looked at the receding river water and sighed. "Furthermore... I cannot let you spread the news about my 4 Emblems Sword Array. Therefore, you're dead meat!"
If he had hesitated, the fox might secretly remove the restriction of the Heavenly Spiritual Image and killed itself. That would spell even more trouble for Fang Yuan.
He had no choice but to be ruthless.
"After such a big fight, the foot of the Tortoise Mountain is now submerged and 10,000 people are killed just like that... sigh..."
A green hurricane appeared which carried Fang Yuan in it and transported him to where Shangzhang Division once was.
As the flood receded, a damaged division was revealed. Corpses laid everywhere and their eyes and stomach were bloated. It was a gruesome sight to behold.
"I'm afraid that the divisions of Tortoise Mountain will become history!"
Fang Yuan continued walking and saw Fa.
Fa had an aggressive look on his face as his hands were outstretched. His skin was pale and he appeared as though he was fighting for survival.
"Such an establishment is destroyed in a few moments!"
Fang Yuan sighed and continued walking. Ahead, there were a few warriors of the Yang Tribe. They were dead as well, either from drowning or being killed in battle.
"Eh?"
Suddenly, he thought of something and turned to another spot.
In a pile of mud, there was a huge severed trunk. Beneath the trunk, a young lady was trapped. Her nails were ingrained deeply into the trunk, but she was still breathing. It seemed as though she had merely fainted, and her eyes were shut.
Around them, a few water demons started to approach as though they had found their prey.
"Die!"
With his mind, Fang Yuan summoned a green sword essence which flew out like a gust of wind. The few water demons froze before turning into ash.
"Wei!"
Fang Yuan walked up to the trunk and placed his finger on Wei's forehead to transfer her some elemental energy.
"Yuan? Am I dreaming?"
After a moment, she sighed and woke up, appearing confused. "I dreamt of the flood! Demons! You ran out quickly..."
"This is not a dream!"
Fang Yuan helped her up before she saw the mess that was once the division.
"Wu Zhiqi was released and flooded everything here. I have already killed him!"
Fang Yuan continued to explain. "I'm afraid that there are no other survivors here..."
"Ti, Gao, Li..."
Wei mumbled the names of the few other warriors that came with them as tears welled up in her eyes. "Yuan, what should we do? Return to our division?"
"No! I want to go to the heart of Xia Country - Yang City!"
Fang Yuan spoke with determination. "Even though the messenger of Xia is dead, I have to fulfil the order of our leader to report to King Xi about it!"
"I want to go with you!"
Wei bit her lips. "I'll follow you wherever you go!"
Fang Yuan examined this lady before him.
After all that had happened, it seemed that she had matured quite a bit, and became stronger than before.
However, there was a mysterious feeling about her, which made Fang Yuan confused. 'Does she have the protection of the realm? Looking at things... Wu Zhiqi's flood killed everyone except her. Either she is extremely lucky, or she has the protection of the realm! This is interesting!'
"Alright! Then let's go together!"
Yang City.
After successfully managing the river, the leader of Xia was crowned the king. Construction started in Yang Mountain, and the 9 cauldrons were smelted and placed in the centre of the city square. From then on, Yang City became the capital of the Xia Tribe, the headquarters of the entire plains!
The city was rather primitive. The city walls were made of soil and were 30 feet tall and 5 feet thick. It stretched around the city for 15 miles. Although this was nothing to Da Qian Empire, it was the most advanced capital in this realm, with everything built without machinery!
As soon as Wei entered Xia Country, she was mesmerized by the fertile farms, intricate pottery and dyed fabrics. Entering Yang City was even more of an eye-opener, she was like a villager entering a modernised city.
"Yuan... look at this! They're all wearing cloth! At that stall over there, they're selling bronze and even iron equipment!"
Looking around, Wei felt a little embarrassed as she was only draped in animal hide. She froze and could no longer move.
"If you like it, we can get a few iron swords after seeing King Xia. They're more useful than bronze swords anyway..."
Fang Yuan did not feel out of place.
This kind of city was like a town. Of course, it took up a lot of space and the architecture in the city had an ancient feel to it.
"They are more useful than bronze swords?"
Looking at the black iron sword, Wei hesitated. It seemed as though she wanted to slice it with her bronze sword to test it out.
Fang Yuan smiled and remained silent.
Although they had long discovered iron, they knew that it would rust and would take too much effort to be made into weapons. Therefore, they were not as common as bronze weapons.
One reason for that was that the smelting process of iron was extremely complicated.
In Xia Country, with the help of dream masters, it would be effortless to get iron equipment.
'However, it seems like it is not popularized... the dream masters of the Realm Alliance are indeed very careful...'
Fang Yuan brought Wei to the palace. "I am Yuan from the Yang Tribe. I have brought along with me the belongings of Qi and is requesting to see King Xi!"
He raised the jade piece which Xia Qi left behind and shouted.
One of the guards glanced at him and immediately, one of them rushed into the palace. "Wait here!"
After a while, he ran out. "King Xi wishes to see you! Follow me!"
The guard pointed at Wei, "You are not allowed to enter!"
"Why so?"
Wei was enraged and almost took out the bronze knife by her waist. However, she was stopped by Fang Yuan. "Wait for me here!"
With that, he followed the guard into the palace.
The palace did not seem luxurious. The only thing special about it was that it was huge.
After a short walk, they arrived at a square. In a hall behind the square, there were 9 huge cauldrons. There were carvings of famous treasures and mysterious beasts on the surface of these cauldrons which would strike fear on whoever laid their eyes on these engravings.
'The 9 Cauldrons of Xia! Where the fate of the people dao lie!'
Fang Yuan mumbled to himself as he felt a huge invisible force on him.
The 9 Cauldrons served the purpose of stabilizing the entire region. It was created by the Sage many years ago and was representative of the traditions of the people dao!
'This is not dragon energy. It is more powerful than dragon energy and is able to stabilize the region and restrict evil spells!'
As he remained silent, he could feel the passion of the ancestors of the people dao boiling within the cauldrons. The energy from the cauldrons rose up into the skies.
Even if a Realm Alliance dream master in the 7th Tier of the Illusionary Divine stage would be no match to King Xi in Yang City, for the king would be strengthened by the energy from the cauldrons!
He focused on the task at hand and followed the servant as they entered the main hall.
"I am Yuan. Greetings, King Xia!"
Since this was the ancient times, this form of greeting was not considered disrespectful. After their greetings, he arrived at a table and sat down with two other ministers which made Fang Yuan feel respected.
"Yuan from the Shangyang Division, tell me about Qi's and your encounter with Wu Zhiqi!"
And King Xi spoke, his deep voice was heard.
"Yes!"
Fang Yuan composed himself, glanced at the two ministers standing by the side before explaining everything.
Of course, secretly, he was sending a message to the elder.
Along the way to the palace, Fang Yuan had already decided on what to say. He had mostly said the truth but only changed the last part, claiming that Wu Zhiqi and Xia Qi had fought to their deaths before Fang Yuan stood in to deliver the final blow.
'It's a good deed that you and Qi managed to kill the unsealed Wu Zhiqi!'
After a while, the loud voice of King Xi was heard from above.
"I am only doing my part to eliminate the evil!"
Fang Yuan thanked King Xi before look at him.
King Xi of Xia Country was an elder of the Realm Alliance. He was dressed in robes and had a composed look. His thick eyebrows gave off the vibe that he was extremely dependable.
"You deserve to be rewarded if you do a good deed, and deserve to be punished if you do a bad deed. This is only normal!"
King Xi waved his hands. "Yuan of Shangyang Division killed Wu Zhiqi and is therefore deserving of a reward! I shall change the name of the North Sea Secluded Capital to Fang Mountain, and that piece of land is now yours. The priest will record this down!"
"Thank you, King Xia!"
Since he was also part of the Realm Alliance, there was no reason for Fang Yuan to return to his division. Of course, he had to take orders from the Xia Tribe.
Fang Yuan accepted the reward without hesitation.
"Mmm, since you are now the Lord of the Fang Mountain, your descendants shall take the surname Fang. From today onwards, you will be Fang Yuan! That is all!"
King Xi smiled as Fang Yuan felt a little humoured.
'In the ancient times, there was a person named Shang Yang. However, since he was part of Wei Country, his named was changed to Wei Yang. Afterwards, as he became the king of Qin Country, his land was known as Shang and his name was changed to Shang Yang or King Shang. Who would've thought that I would now experience the same thing...'
Regardless, Fang Yuan appreciated the fact that he could use his real name from now onwards. Without hesitation, he paid his respects and left the palace.
"All of you, leave too! Ju, stay behind!"
King Xi dismissed the other ministers, leaving behind Ju, who was also a dream master from the Realm Alliance.
"Elder... Is Chen Qi really dead? And... do you think Fang Yuan would trick us?"
Ju asked.
"Since even the Heavenly Spiritual Image is out, we can do nothing about it..."
King Xi's voice was calm. "After thinking about what he said, I believe that most of it were true. The Hidden Dragon Guards are plotting for something big, and we have to be well prepared!"