Within New Qin City, the capital of the Hua Xia Empire, Yun Fan was accompanying a corpulent elderly man in Hua Xia Tower, sampling various delicacies. On the table sat a large bottle of cola.
At this moment, the rotund elder was devouring the feast, savoring every bite. His face was full of contentment as he marveled, "I never would have imagined that such exquisite food could exist in this world. Compared to this, what I used to eat is utterly unworthy."
Seeing his former master enjoying himself so much, Yun Fan smiled, "Master, if you enjoy the food, feel free to eat more."
"Even if I didn't enjoy it, I'd have to eat more. Otherwise, how would I protect the lives of the other disciples of the Holy Spirit Sect under the rule of your remarkable grandson?" The elder sighed helplessly, "Who could have imagined that you, Yun Fan, would father such a monstrous grandson?"
"If the destruction of the mountain gate hadn't drawn me out of seclusion, I probably still wouldn't know that your junior disciple committed such a terrible betrayal behind my back."
The Yuan family, as the guardian clan, had sacrificed so much to protect the human realm over the years—an immense cost in both effort and lives.
Holy Spirit Sect's patriarch, Huang Xing, who deeply understood this, sighed as he looked at Yun Fan. "At least that unworthy disciple died in the battle at the mountain gate, repaying his sins. If I had been forced to deal with him myself, I would have been heartbroken."
Looking at his master, Yun Fan remained silent, understanding the bitterness in his master's heart. His master had deeply trusted his junior disciple, but that very disciple had dragged the Holy Spirit Sect into an inescapable abyss.
When the mountain gate was destroyed, Huang Xing was forced out of seclusion and met with his former disciple, Yun Fan. After witnessing the unparalleled might of the Hua Xia Empire's army and learning the truth, Huang Xing immediately surrendered the Holy Spirit Sect.
He knew that if he did not surrender, the only fate awaiting the other disciples of the Holy Spirit Sect would be death.
Huang Xing had come to New Qin City to see firsthand what the Hua Xia Empire was like, wondering whether the remaining innocent disciples of the Holy Spirit Sect would suffer after their surrender.
However, after spending some time living in the Hua Xia Empire, his concerns completely evaporated.
He now lived in New Qin City, indulging in its delicious food. His love for food wasn't just for his own pleasure; it was also a way of signaling to Lin Qian that he willingly placed himself in a vulnerable position, as if holding himself hostage.
Due to Lin Qian's respect for Yun Fan's grandfather, and because the patriarch of the Holy Spirit Sect was genuinely different from the deceased sect master, Lin Qian accepted the sect's surrender.
Though Lin Qian knew he would eventually win the war, the casualties from continued fighting would result in many unnecessary deaths. Many ordinary disciples in the Holy Spirit Sect did not deserve to lose their lives because of the former sect master's ambitions.
However, integrating the Holy Spirit Sect into the Hua Xia Empire was no simple task. These disciples would be closely monitored, and only after their character was thoroughly evaluated would they be considered for full citizenship in the empire.
The situation in the Eastern and Western territories was dire. Compared to the Northern Region, these two regions faced the main brunt of the invading alien forces.
The invaders knew that the Northern Region was well-guarded by the Yuan family, and taking it would come at a great cost.
In contrast, the Eastern and Western regions, which had no similar protection, were much easier targets.
Thus, the invaders launched their assaults from both sides of the Western Continent, aiming to breach the human realm's Eastern and Western regions.
Like the Southern Region, these areas had suffered significant damage during the ancient wars, making them far weaker than the Central Region. They had no means to resist the aggressive onslaught of the alien forces, and in the blink of an eye, they lost most of their territory.
At this point, the Hua Xia Empire entered the battlefield in these regions, becoming a savior for the human inhabitants of the East and West. The Imperial Army, along with the War Beast Army and the fleet of warships, was an unstoppable force, smashing the alien invaders' offenses to pieces.
These alien forces had never imagined that the human race possessed such military power, nor that the Hua Xia Empire could be so terrifying.
Unwilling to accept defeat, the alien forces clashed head-on with the Hua Xia Empire, engaging in fierce combat.
They had spent years planning this invasion of the Eastern Continent, and retreat was not an option.
For them, it was victory or death. With their bloodthirsty battle cries, these ferocious alien races threw themselves into a direct confrontation with the Hua Xia Empire.
Lin Qian's orders were clear and merciless: to these invaders, there was to be no mercy.
Lin Qian had already learned much about these savage alien invaders through the accounts of the Wood Spirit Clan, the Green Spirit Clan, and the Earth Spirit Clan, as well as through intelligence gathered by the scouting beasts, Gale, and Shadow operating in the Western Continent.
These alien races had no intention of peace. Their minds were filled only with thoughts of slaughter and plunder, and their insatiable greed drove them.
Wherever they passed, they left only corpses, rivers of blood, and the nauseating stench of death.
While the eight major human factions were treacherous, they primarily targeted the Yuan family's soul martial artists, and for the most part, spared ordinary people.
But the alien invaders showed no such restraint, destroying everything and everyone in their path without discrimination.
Outraged by the alien forces' cruelty, Lin Qian vowed to make them pay for their actions. The remaining Imperial Army stationed in the former Yun family's desolate lands was fully mobilized.
Over the five years that followed, the Hua Xia Empire demonstrated to these alien forces the true meaning of power and slaughter.
To deal with these savage invaders, Lin Qian introduced a special class of generals into the war for the first time.
These generals were known as Scholars.
In comparison, their combat prowess was not remarkable—they weren't skilled in offense, and their defense was weak.
What distinguished these Scholar Generals was their vast and boundless soul power, as deep as the sea.
In the past, Lin Qian had refrained from deploying these Scholar Generals because the Hua Xia Empire's supply of potions was more than sufficient, making their involvement unnecessary.
However, with the ferocity of the alien forces in the East and West, Lin Qian decided it was time to unleash these Scholar Generals to create an overwhelming advantage.
In a previous life's game, these Scholar Generals were fondly referred to by players as...
The "Healers"!