The Sacred Leaves Family's Wishes for Peace

Fortunately, these Saint King-level attackers seemed interested only in annihilating the royal bloodline of the Great Xia Dynasty. They ignored other powers and commoners in the imperial capital. Once the imperial family was wiped out, the invaders withdrew immediately.

When the Duan Clan and Tai Chu Sacred Land had been destroyed, they were isolated mountain sects, hidden from the world. It took time for news of their destruction to spread.

This time, however, the destruction occurred in broad daylight, in a populated city. The attackers had barely left before the event was already echoing across all of Cangzhou.

And with it came a surge of terror.

"My heavens—Great Xia has fallen too!?"

"These murderers still haven't left Cangzhou?! What, do they intend to wipe out every single major force?!"

"Who's next?!"

"Today was supposed to be the big day for the Eight Ancient Nations merging into the Great Qian Dynasty… and they chose this very day to strike?!"

"I was still hesitating about moving to Ascension City. Not anymore—I'm packing now!"

"Yeah, outside of the Fang Clan, there's no place left in Cangzhou that feels remotely safe anymore…"

When Fang Ting heard the news of Great Xia's annihilation, he immediately prepared to leave.

The Fang Clan had ignored the fall of the Duan Clan, as there had been no ties—only some friction between them. Their destruction hadn't warranted Fang Ting's attention.

But Great Xia was a different matter. It was a staunch ally.

Back when Ascension City was under construction, multiple teleportation arrays had been embedded across the realm—including one connecting directly to Great Xia.

Fang Ting was only at the Quasi-Emperor Realm, and although fast, teleportation was more efficient. In just a few breaths, he arrived.

He stepped out of the teleportation array, flickered once, and appeared above the site of the fallen imperial palace.

There were no corpses, no rubble—only a deep abyss where the palace once stood.

But the remnants of shattered laws, intense lingering true essence, and a skyward rush of killing aura all made one thing clear:

"A great battle happened here."

Fang Ting furrowed his brow.

"It's a beast clan's aura…"

It was faint—so faint that even Saint Kings might miss it. But Fang Ting, now an Emperor, detected it clearly.

Back when the Duan Clan was destroyed, Fang Ting hadn't investigated, but the Drunken Immortal Pavilion's intelligence network had reported unusual activity from the Northern Region.

Now he could detect the same trace of beast clan essence here at Great Xia's ruin.

This strongly implied that the same culprits were behind both events.

"Elder Wang once said the Northern Region's power ranks just below the Buddhist West, and when the ten great beast clans act together, they're absolutely terrifying."

"He also warned that the beast clans have been restless in recent years… and it seems his instincts were right."

Although there wasn't definitive proof, the signs pointed to the Northern Beast Clans.

A visit to the Northern Region would soon clarify everything.

Fang Ting initially planned to wait for Fang Luo, Fang Chen, and Fang Qiuefeng to return before acting. As reborn cultivators, their insight could be useful.

But news soon came that Princess Ji Yuying, still in the Fang Clan, had fainted upon hearing of the Great Xia Dynasty's destruction.

When she awoke, she sobbed uncontrollably.

She was likely the only survivor of Great Xia's royal bloodline. Her family—those she'd lived with day and night—were all gone.

No one could easily bear such grief.

Su Xinyan and the others tried to comfort her, but nothing worked.

Just a few hours ago, her loved ones had been safe and sound. Now, the entire royal palace was gone. Who could accept that?

Upon returning, Fang Ting personally approached her:

"Yuying, I give you my word—I will avenge the Great Xia royal family."

Back when the Fang Clan faced near annihilation, only two factions stood unwaveringly at their side—the Great Xia Dynasty, and the Heavenfire Blazing Beast Clan.

From that day forward, they were considered Fang Clan's closest allies.

At every auction, the Fang Clan would privately sell them rare items at prices lower than the auction house's. Whenever a partnership opportunity arose, they were always the first to be approached.

Now that one of them had been annihilated, Fang Ting felt a personal duty to avenge them—even more so, given the bond between Ji Yuying and Fang Mu Ge.

Tears in her eyes, Ji Yuying choked out:

"Thank you… Uncle Qingzhou… sob…"

She tried to kneel in gratitude, but Su Xinyan gently stopped her.

With the Duan Clan, Tai Chu Sacred Land, and now the Great Xia Dynasty all destroyed, Cangzhou was once again engulfed in paranoia.

Every faction feared they might be next.

Some began seeking alliances, others launched investigations, and still others quietly prepared to flee.

Only the Fang Clan and the Great Qian Dynasty—with Emperor Fang Ting presiding—remained utterly unshaken.

Even before Great Xia fell, Ascension City had already drawn massive attention. After the attack, the influx of cultivators exploded by dozens of times.

The four main gates were clogged daily with long, snaking lines. The property market inside surged wildly.

Even though the imperial court tried to regulate prices, it was useless. Demand vastly outstripped supply.

Not long after, word came from Fang Kong.

When he noticed that the Heavenfire Blazing Beast Clan had not yet sent representatives, he had dispatched messengers to check on them.

None of them returned.

Originally, Fang Ting had planned to wait for Fang Luo's insight. But after hearing this, he could no longer delay.

He had already lost one powerful ally. He would not lose a second.

Just as he prepared to set off, Fang Luo and the others returned. Fang Ting pulled them aside before they even stepped through the front gates and brought them—along with Little Grey—toward the Northern Region.

On the way, Fang Ting gave a summary of the situation, and ended with:

"The Northern Beast Clans… are highly suspect."

Fang Luo was stunned.

"This actually happened?!"

(I didn't expect the ripple effect to be this severe… In my past life, the Northern Beast Clans did eventually rise and destroy many forces—but that wasn't for hundreds of years. I can't believe it's happening now…)

(If I hadn't been away, I might've warned them after the Duan Clan fell. Maybe Great Xia could've been saved…)

There was genuine regret in Fang Luo's eyes.

He now realized: his rebirth, and the very existence of the Fang Clan, had already altered the entire trajectory of history.

But he never imagined the consequences would arrive this soon—events that once lay centuries in the future had already come crashing down.