Proofreader: Papatonks

The crowd watched the old fool running his mouth with all kinds of tricks then just walked off like it was nothing.

[Oh, right, since they are fleeing from Zhuo Fan, doesn’t that mean that the Sacred Mountains are afraid? What about our dignity? What about ruling the Sacred Domain?]

Since He Haodong was dead and he started lashing out at him, that was just to keep appearances for the people that the Sacred Mountains were still honorable.

[The Sacred Mountains are just, we are not here to pick on the weak and steal. We just didn’t know or we’d have long put a stop to this.]

That ought to buy people’s opinion.

The real issue was Zhuo Fan. If he was related to Sir Shui Jing, the Sacred Mountains dumped everything on He Haodong to save them the trouble. So they sold out He Haodong to escape Sir Shui Jing’s issue. Three birds with one stone.

He Yunshan looked to be talkative, but in fact he was saving his skin.

[Geezer, you still have tricks I see. Impressive.]

The old guys sighed at He Yunshan’s prideful exit. They were the peak of the Sacred Domain, holding the best resources and sought Dao for the Sovereign Stage, while not messing with the trifles of those below.

The insights gained from the negotiations millions of years ago seemed forgotten. As they got stronger, they were rather straightforward, not willing to waste time with anything.

It was a surprise to see Mountain Lord He so sharp at his age, using his noggin to maneuver out of this pickle, ha-ha-ha…

While the Sacred Mountains were scared of Zhuo Fan and withdrew, a sudden shout came from above all, “What are you bastards doing at the Luo clan? They are under my protection!”

A draconic roar!

A golden tail five hundred meters long hacked at the Saints.

The deadly power made some of the weaker Saints gasp.

[What kind of power is this?]

“Dragon Sovereign!”

The six Mountain Lords gasped. They shuddered and six golden Sacred Bodies emerged.

They used all their power to block the tail.

Bam!

The sudden clash rent the space, with the entire sky soon turning pitch-black like the sky just shattered.

The six Mountain Lords staggered five steps, looking grave.

Boom!

The huge dragon turned into a tough man, standing tall in the sky, the sudden stomping he made created two black holes. He grinned with fire in his eyes, “Ha-ha-ha, geezers, I see you’re missing someone. You’re not facing me with the usual Seven Star Sacred Sword Array?”

“Dragon Sovereign, what are you doing here?”

He Yunshan squinted, “Did you forget our deal? Dragons will never set foot on human lands or the war between the Seven Sacred Mountains and dragons will start anew!”

“And?”

“And?! Humph…”

He Yunshan mocked, “I guess the pain faded with time. What about all those dragons that died last time? We’re missing one Sacred Mountain, but six are more than enough to handle you, dragons. Scurry back to your Dragon Lands if you don’t want a repeat of the massacre!”

“Ha-ha-ha, big words!”

Dragon Sovereign laughed, “We had so many casualties last time because of your little tricks, baiting us to fight within the Eight Emperors’ lands. Fighting in an unfamiliar place, we were butchered. You’re not stronger than us, but you had arrays to waste our strength. That’s why we died, because you whittled us down!”

“It’ll be the same now as well! These are our lands and you will die!”

“Wrong! This time the Eight Emperors’ lands aren’t the Seven Sacred Mountains’ turf, but our backyard.” The Dragon Sovereign grinned, “We no longer need to chase you around the Eight Emperors’ lands, and only need to attack your mountains. We never fear an open confrontation, but you, you will suffer!”

He Yunshan sneered, ” Backyard? As if! The Eight Emperors’ lands are for human cultivators. You have now entered a swamp, with enemies on all sides. They may be weak, like bugs, but these bugs can bite you to death. You’re delusional if you think they have your back!”

“It’s already done!”

The Dragon Sovereign grinned in disdain, going to Zhuo Fan to shock everyone with his salute, “Steward Zhuo, I heard you have all of the Eight Emperors’ lands at your beck and call. I am astonished. Now I have a clear line of sight for the Sacred Mountains. I only ask for your forgiveness for being stalled by minor difficulties.”

“Dragon Sovereign is too kind. I’ve been looking forward to having you with us and helping us. Now I’m thrilled to have you!” Zhuo Fan bowed back.

He Yunshan and the elders were dumbstruck, “Zhuo Fan…”

“Steward Zhuo…”

The Dragon Sovereign gave them a taunting look, “Based on your words last time, we have come with all our forces to deal with the Sacred Mountains. A One million strong army, including three thousand dragon Saints, twelve thousand dragon Emperors and hundreds of thousands of dragon kings and below are marching through the Eight Emperors’ lands without obstruction. They will be here with you shortly. I’ve never had such an easy trek in ages, and it’s all thanks to Steward Zhuo, ha-ha-ha…”

He Yunshan’s face twitched, roaring, “Zhuo Fan, you betrayed your kin and let dragons invade? And you call yourself a man?”

“Of course, since I never harmed my kin.”

Zhuo Fan sneered, “While you, standing aloft in your Sacred Mountains have stolen everything from the Sacred Domain, its cultivation arts and resources, crushing the cultivators like bugs. Do you call yourself a man? Your win against the dragons was because the Sacred Domain had your back, but after the war, you still tyrannized the Eight Emperors’ lands, not even appreciating their help and sacrifice. You’re not fit to rule the Sacred Domain.”

Zhuo Fan cursed them with a smile, “I grew up in the Eight Emperors’ lands, having grown stronger only by stealing from others until I finally became the Demonic Emperor. I had no gratitude for anyone, nor did I treat anyone as my equal, for I got everything with my own two hands. While I had no love, I hated, hated all of you from the Sacred Mountains.

“Why do you get to have the best resources and lord over us without doing anything? The Sacred Mountains’ people, even those inferior in talent are just given strength but others have to work for it? The Eight Emperors had to give more than half of the lands’ resources to you before they could share anything with their people. But what about those that toiled to gather these resources your Sacred Mountains so easily obtained? They got only scraps. Those rogue cultivators are even worse off, like me.”

“And? Power is everything in the Sacred Domain. The weak are not fit to have anything. Strive to take it if you can.” He Yunshan barked.

Zhuo Fan nodded and clapped, “You’re right, I understood this only after becoming an Emperor. All that strive below are nothing but ants, no matter how happy or miserable. They are nothing for the ones above. To change your fate, you shouldn’t rob each other, but instead the highest peak! So I’m now robbing just like you wished, ha-ha-ha…”

Ugh!

He Yunshan blinked, his heart racing in anger. They were always working to stop those ants from doing that. Now a damn power actually showed up that could do it!

Glancing at the sneering Dragon Sovereign, He Yunshan gritted his teeth.

[Damn Zhuo Fan, humanity’s traitor, letting dragons in like the little bastard he is…]

“So stop trying to use humans and dragons to differentiate us. To me, there’s only enemy and ally.”

Zhuo Fan sneered, “You always use a few meager resources to lure cultivators of the Eight Emperors’ lands to fight against each other. When the dragons attacked, you used them again as expendables, under the guise of a human alliance. Now I have all the Eight Emperors’ lands and the dragons in a human-dragon alliance. And our enemy is only you, the Sacred Mountains.”

“Bullshit! You think everyone’s like you, greedy and willing to help the dragons crush the pinnacle of humanity?”

“Yeah, many refused at first, but then I declared my war on the Sacred Mountains and that all of your resources and high cultivation methods are ours. The people jumped at the offer!”

“What?” All of the Sacred Mountains’ experts shouted, feeling a chill down their spine…