The Sacred Leaves Family's Wishes for Peace

One of the Primordial Sacred Ground's elders had gone to the Sacred City to handle some matters. About an hour later, with his task complete, he began making his way back to the sect.

The distance between the Sacred City and the Three Sacred Grounds was roughly equal—nothing more than a short trip for a Saint Realm cultivator.

However, as the elder neared the mountain range that housed the Sacred Ground, he began to feel an intense disturbance in the flow of true essence. The laws of heaven and earth were chaotic, and waves of blood-red light and murderous aura surged toward the skies.

"What's going on? Is someone attacking the sect?"

The elder quickened his pace. But the closer he got, the greater the sense of unease and fear that built up inside him.

The aura of blood and killing intent was far too dense. He had once witnessed the aftermath of a demonic cultivator massacre—and even that had not come close to what he felt now.

When he finally arrived at the gates of the Primordial Sacred Ground and swept his divine sense over the entire territory, he froze where he stood—like a statue.

"How… how can this be…"

"Am I in an illusion?"

He couldn't accept what he was seeing.

This was the Primordial Sacred Ground, one of Cangzhou's hegemonic forces, passed down since the ancient era—a sanctuary of cultivation with over 100,000 years of legacy.

Now… it was a wasteland.

There were no corpses, but the air was thick with blood. The aura of slaughter lingered in the wind, pressing down on the world like a shroud.

He didn't need to ask—a brutal massacre had occurred here. Many had died.

And if what he saw was real, then… the Sacred Ground was no more.

"Impossible! This is impossible!!"

It took him a long time to recover before he finally rushed in, shouting:

"Where is everyone?! Where are you all?!"

But no one answered.

No matter how desperately he called, there was no response.

Though he didn't want to admit it, the truth was right in front of him.

And the truth didn't care how painful it was.

Due to the Sacred Ground's proximity to the Sacred City, news of the destruction spread rapidly.

Within hours, the shocking message had rippled across the entire region:

"The Primordial Sacred Ground has been destroyed!"

"What?! That can't be true!"

"After the Duan Clan, now the Sacred Ground? Are you serious?"

"Well, the Duan Clan was taken out already, so what's so surprising?"

"It's not the same. The Three Sacred Grounds are united. They're close together, and there's even the Sacred City in between. How could one of them be wiped out without the others reacting?!"

"Only one possibility—the attacker was too fast and too strong. The others had no time to respond."

"First the Duan Clan. Now the Primordial Sacred Ground. Who's next?"

"If hegemonic forces can't even protect themselves, where in Cangzhou is still safe?"

When the Duan Clan had been destroyed, it had already shaken the realm. After all, the last time a hegemonic power was erased was the fall of the Great Zhou Dynasty—ages ago.

Now that the Primordial Sacred Ground had fallen too, fear spread like wildfire.

Especially among its two closest allies: the True One Sacred Ground and the Wild Heaven Sacred Ground.

Their Sacred Lords and Supreme Elders immediately rushed to the ruins, their expressions grim as they stared at the wreckage.

They weren't mourning their ally. They were thinking:

"Are we next?"

"The Duan Clan, then the Primordial Sacred Ground… Who's behind this?!"

roared the True One Sacred Lord.

"What's their goal? To wipe out every hegemonic power in Cangzhou?!"

The two Supreme Elders shook their heads.

"No. The ones who destroyed the Duan Clan and the Primordial Sacred Ground… are not the same."

"Right. The Duan Clan was attacked by many Saint King-level cultivators working together. But the Sacred Ground—was taken out by just one Saint King. A perfect-stage Saint King."

After visiting the Duan Clan ruins, they could still discern these distinctions with their cultivation.

"One Saint King?"

the Wild Heaven Sacred Lord said in shock.

"Then how did he break their grand formation in such a short time?!"

The two elders exchanged glances.

"The residual aura at the scene... It's from an Emperor Weapon. The attacker likely used it to breach the formation."

"There must also have been a large-scale array covering the Sacred Ground. That's why we didn't detect anything—even from this close."

The Sacred Lords fell silent, expressions twisted with disbelief and awe.

"An Emperor Weapon..."

That meant…

"Whoever did this must be from another continent."

In ancient times, some of Cangzhou's hegemonic powers had nurtured quasi-Emperor cultivators, but never full Emperors—none had ever wielded true Emperor Weapons.

"Seems likely," said the True One elder with a heavy sigh.

"Will they strike again?"

asked the Wild Heaven Sacred Lord.

"What should we do?"

No one answered.

Because no one knew.

They had two options.

One: Invite a powerful outside force to station themselves in the Sacred City.

Two: Flee Cangzhou entirely.

But both options came with immense cost.

The Primordial Sacred Ground had indeed been wealthy—and the Fang Clan reaped a massive haul.

But the most important gain was the Heaven-Tier Spirit Vein.

With that in hand, the Fang Clan could finally move forward with establishing their imperial capital.

The first step: choosing the site.

Fang Chu, in addition to his skills with alchemy, artifacts, formations, beast-taming, brewing, tea-growing, and gardening… also happened to know a bit about geomancy.

So Fang Ting entrusted him with the task of choosing the site.

"It's best to inspect the land in person,"

Fang Chu said hesitantly.

"I wouldn't feel right just making a guess."

Given how chaotic Cangzhou had become, with opportunistic cultivators and rogue demons stirring trouble, he couldn't risk traveling alone anymore.

His caution was understandable. He had always been a prudent man.

The Drunken Immortal Pavillion's intelligence network confirmed that unrest had spread across Cangzhou. Many cultivators with ill intent were taking advantage of the chaos, and even demonic cultivators from the Southern Region were running amok.

Fang Chu was only at the Fusion Realm, enough for daily tasks—but not for traveling Cangzhou unescorted.

Fang Ting stood and said:

"Then let's go together."

"That's a great relief, Clan Chief,"

Fang Chu said gratefully.

He fully trusted Fang Ting's strength. With an Emperor Weapon in hand, no one in Cangzhou could match him short of an actual Emperor.

Having such a "bodyguard" made site selection a lot less stressful.

Riding the Azure Thunder Roc, Fang Ting and Fang Chu departed from Duanshan City and headed for the area surrounding the Eight Ancient Nations.

On the journey, they encountered no trouble at all. Fang Ting released his Saint King aura the entire way—none of the scheming cultivators dared provoke him.

Long ago, when the Great Zhou Dynasty fell and its royal bloodline was extinguished, the imperial capital was razed, leaving the territory in ruins. While the land still existed, it had since become known as the Eight Ancient Nations.

Now, to restore unity, Fang Ting only needed to select a suitable site nearby and build a new capital.