The Sacred Leaves Family's Wishes for Peace

After the destruction of the Five Great Demonic Sects in the Southern Region, the Fang family and the Great Qian Empire immediately sprang into action.

Officials and powerful cultivators from the Great Qian Empire were dispatched one after another to take control and administrate the twenty kingdoms of the Southern Region.

At first glance, twenty kingdoms sounded like a formidable force. But in reality, they weren't worth much.

These twenty kingdoms combined had about the same land area as the former Great Qi Kingdom, but only one-fifth its population. Cultivators above the Core Condensation Realm were extremely rare.

Even back in the day, a single influential clan in the capital of the Martial Kingdom could have easily wiped out these twenty kingdoms.

Their weakness stemmed from thousands of years of exploitation and suppression under the Five Demonic Sects.

That they had survived at all was only because the demonic sects understood the necessity of sustainable development and showed a modicum of restraint.

Otherwise, all the cultivators from the twenty kingdoms together wouldn't have been enough to feed one demonic sect's appetite for blood.

The collective strength of these kingdoms was too feeble, and they yearned desperately to escape the demonic sects' rule and return to normalcy.

So once it became known that the Great Qian Empire had destroyed the demonic sects, these kingdoms were both awed and terrified, fully cooperative with every step. Everything proceeded smoothly.

At the same time, the Fang family's Myriad Treasures Pavilion and Drunken Immortal Pavillion began quickly scouting out ideal locations in the Southern Region to open new branches.

Though the Southern Region currently lacked high-level cultivators and was even more backward than the remote areas once governed by Great Qian, with imperial support, its future development was guaranteed.

Moreover, at this stage, the resource profits from the Drunken Immortal Pavillion were no longer particularly important to the Fang family. The reason they continued expanding was to perfect their intelligence network.

Fang Ting's original ambition was to open branches of the Drunken Immortal Pavillion in every corner of the Heaven Origin Realm, enabling him to know all happenings across the world without leaving home.

For now, they had only managed to cover Cangzhou. There was still a long road ahead to realizing full coverage of the Heaven Origin Realm.

Truly, a heavy burden lay before them.

The actions of the Fang family and the Great Qian Empire couldn't go unnoticed by the rest of Cangzhou's powers.

Soon, news that the Five Great Demonic Sects had been annihilated by the Fang family—and that the Great Qian Empire was now absorbing the twenty kingdoms—spread across the continent like wildfire.

Previously, only single hegemonic forces had been destroyed—such as the Duan Clan, the Primordial Holy Land, or the Great Xia Empire.

Now, five hegemonic forces had been wiped out simultaneously—a truly earth-shaking event.

This news caused an unprecedented sensation throughout Cangzhou.

"What?! Even the Five Demonic Sects have been wiped out?!"

"Sure, those cults were harmful and long overdue for destruction—but all five at once? That's terrifying!"

"This isn't like before, when mysterious killers acted in the shadows—this time it was Fang family, openly and decisively!"

"The Fang family is way too strong. They annihilated the Five Demonic Sects without a sound! Could it be they also destroyed those earlier forces?"

"I'd believe it if they took out the Primordial Holy Land. And didn't they have close ties with the Great Xia Empire?"

"At this point, the Fang family might be the strongest power in all of Cangzhou."

"The Great Qian Empire already merged the Great Zhou and Great Xia. Now with the Southern Region under their banner—are they going to unify Cangzhou?"

"Honestly, I'd welcome it. At least the Fang family hasn't done anything unjust so far."

Until now, most factions in Cangzhou only knew that the Fang family had many talented youths and great potential. Early on, they leaned on the Three Palace Lords of Divine Que Mansion; later, on the Eldest Princess of Great Zhou; and finally, on the two Sacred Bodies who joined immortal sects.

No one expected the Fang family to remain dormant for years and then suddenly erupt—slaying the Five Demonic Sects in one fell swoop.

This turn of events brought mixed feelings to different factions—some were jubilant, others deeply uneasy.

Among the most anxious and fearful were the Tianhuang Holy Land and the Zhenyi Holy Land.

The Fang family had deep-seated tensions with the three great holy lands, rife with old grudges and frequent friction.

Those holy lands had believed it would take several centuries before the Fang family could grow strong enough to pose a threat—especially since even for prodigies, advancing beyond the Saint Realm slowed progress significantly.

But to their shock, in just a few decades, the Fang family had already risen to this height.

The Holy Lords and Supreme Elders of Tianhuang and Zhenyi Holy Lands immediately gathered upon hearing the Five Demonic Sects had fallen.

The Holy Lord of Zhenyi asked:

"Do you think the Fang family did this themselves? Or did they ask the three Palace Lords of Divine Que Mansion to help?"

The Holy Lord of Tianhuang replied gravely:

"If Elder Wang hadn't broken through to the Emperor Realm, then even with the Palace Lords' help, the Five Demonic Sects wouldn't have gone down so easily."

"Hiss! You mean… the Eldest Princess of Great Zhou made her move?" the Zhenyi Holy Lord gasped.

She was an Emperor Realm powerhouse. If she had taken action, then such results made perfect sense.

The Supreme Elder of Zhenyi Holy Land said solemnly:

"Speculating won't help us now. We need to decide how we're going to respond."

"Agreed. I'm starting to believe there's an 80% chance the Primordial Holy Land was destroyed by the Fang family. If so, our own situation is dangerous," added the Supreme Elder of Tianhuang.

"This…"

The two Holy Lords exchanged a grave look, eyes wide with dread.

If the Fang family had truly destroyed the Primordial Holy Land, then Tianhuang and Zhenyi Holy Lands would surely be next.

After much deliberation, they made a choice that went against their ancestors' teachings:

"We run!"

"The Heaven Origin Realm is vast, with over a thousand continents. We can relocate to a weaker one and rebuild. With our resources and talents, we'll return to hegemonic status in a few decades!"

"Exactly! As long as the green hills remain, we needn't fear running out of firewood. If we bring all our resources, elders, and promising disciples, we'll thrive elsewhere. There's no reason to stay in Cangzhou!"

The decision to flee was met with unanimous agreement.

With the Primordial Holy Land and the Five Demonic Sects annihilated, they saw no hope of survival if they remained.

Once the decision was made, they wasted no time. The two sects recalled all elders and core disciples, quickly sold off all immovable assets, and stripped their sects of anything valuable—whatever couldn't be carried, they dug up and sold.

In just one day, Tianhuang and Zhenyi Holy Lands were ready to abandon Cangzhou entirely.

Though they were loath to part with their ancient homes, they had no choice. The Fang family's meteoric rise had left them with no time to prepare.

Before departing, of course, they didn't forget their most precious treasure: the Heaven-grade spirit vein.

With a wave of the hand, the two Holy Lords dug up the spiritual vein and stashed it away.

Both sects had numerous disciples. To avoid drawing attention, they only brought their Saint Realm elders and most talented disciples—80% of the remaining disciples were left behind, completely unaware.

But as soon as the Heaven-grade spirit vein was removed, its absence was immediately felt.

"What's going on?! Why did the spiritual energy suddenly thin out so drastically?"

"Yeah! It feels like I can't breathe…"

"Could something be wrong with our spirit vein?"

"Go alert the elders!"

The confused disciples tried to seek out their elders—only to find the entire sect empty.

Not a single elder remained. Only the disciples were left behind.

Even a fool could now sense something was terribly wrong.