Godric gave a slow nod. His voice came out cold as ten-thousand-year ice. "Not letting them go. Dying it."


    "Holding still for now doesn''t mean we''re afraid of them. It means we''ll take our revenge better."


    "Once we''ve dealt with Jared, wiped out the hidden danger of Cloudhaven City and the Sky Dragon n, and secured our rear, then we''ll turn back and settle ounts with the Demon Dragon Lineage. By then, no one will be left to help them, and no one will be able to stop the Celestial Pce''s wrath."


    He turned away and looked off toward Cloudhaven City.


    A golden light flickered in his eyes, and there was something in it that clung hard and did not turn back.


    "That Jared carries the Five-wed Golden Dragon Bloodline, something rarely seen in this world. It''s one of the greatest treasures under heaven, a divine thing countless cultivators would do anything to get their hands on."


    "If I can capture him alive, rip the Five-wed Golden Dragon Bloodline out of his body, and support it with an ancient divine elixir, then my cultivation will break past True Immortal Realm Level Two in one stroke and step into the third tier. I may even have a chance to strike at the fourth tier."


    "By then, my strength will surge, the Celestial Pce will return to its peak, and when we go back to avenge ourselves on Darian and tten the Demon Dragon Hall, it will be as easy as turning over a hand."


    Those words gave every Elder a direction to face.


    At the same time, they lit something up in the hearts that had just gone cold.


    First kill Jared, seize the dragon blood, break through, and strengthen the Celestial Pce!


    Then wipe out the Demon Dragon, avenge the blood debt, wash away the shame, and restore its name!


    Godric whipped back around, his gaze sweeping over them all. His voice hit the hall hard, steady and impossible to question. "Pass down my order."


    "Gather every elite in the Celestial Pce at once. Muster the army, ready the


    weapons, and follow me on campaign to Cloudhaven City!"


    "Remember this. This battle is not for ughtering a city, and not for exterminating a n. There is only one goal-capture Jared alive!"


    "No matter the cost, Jared must be brought back to the Celestial Pce!"


    At those words, thest trace of hesitation in the assembled elders vanishedpletely.


    They all bowed at once, faces grave, voices perfectly united as they rang through the Empyrean Hall. "Understood! Hall Master is wise!"


    *****


    Cloudhaven City.


    This city sat tucked between mountain ranges. It was not the most prosperous ce across all realms, but because the Sky Dragon n was here, and because Jared was here, it had be unusually steady.


    On most days, sunlight poured down bright and warm. The sky stayed a clear, washed blue for miles, without a cloud in sight, and the air always felt clean.


    Far off at the edge of the sky, dozens of giant dragons could often be seen circling through the air.


    Under the sun, their golden scales threw back a dazzling light that was hard to look away from.


    Their dragon cries carried over from the distance, clear and long, deep with weight.


    That sound wrapped all of Cloudhaven City in the sense of a powerful guard standing watch.


    The people in the city had long since grown used to the sight.


    They only had to lift their heads to see dragons soaring overhead, and dragon cries were something they heard all the time.


    Not only did they not fear it, they took pride in it instead.


    With the powerful Sky Dragon n guarding the city, and with a figure like Jared


    holding the line here, Cloudhaven City had be a paradise in this age of chaos.


    Safe. Peaceful. Who would daree and attack it?


    But today.


    That peace, which had held for so long, was shatteredpletely.


    An aura of destruction swept in from the far horizon.


    the city walls


    Rnd stood with his hands behind his back, tall and straight as a pine.


    He wore a long golden robe marked with dragon patterns. His face was hard and steady, his eyes bright as stars, and in ordinary times he always carried a quiet weight and authority.


    But now his brows were pulled tight together, cut into a deep furrow.


    His eyes were heavy as he stared ahead, and what sat there would not ease.


    His gaze locked onto the farthest edge of the sky.


    There, a blinding golden light was starting to spill out.


    At first it was only a faint glimmer. But in no more than a few moments, that light rushed closer and brighter, like a golden tidal wave spreading across the heavens.


    It surged wildly outward and in the blink of an eye dyed half the sky in harsh gold, blotting out the sun.


    Between heaven and earth, it was as if nothing remained except that terrifying sheet of gold.


    Within that golden light, countless figures came flying through the air.


    There were so many of them that the eye couldn''t find the end.


    At the very front was a golden warship so massive it dwarfed everything behind it.


    vel


    The warship stretched 300 yards long, hanging across the sky like something built to block out the world. Its entire body had been. forged from rare star-forged godsteel heavy and imposing with denseyers of intricate sacred sigils carved from bow to stern.


    Every single sigil flowed with


    spiritual light and gave off a


    crushing pressure that sat on the


    chest like a weight.


    On both sides of the warship, several hundred Basilica elites stood in formation in


    matching golden armor, their ranks perfectly straight and perfectly still.


    Every one of them carried a sharp, cutting presence. Their eyes were cold. The spiritual power rolling off them was steady and fierce, and not one of them was below High Immortal Realm Level Seven They held themselves in grim silence, thick with killing intent like iron-blooded soldiers who had walked out of mountains of corpses


    and seas of blood. Not a word left


    their mouths, but the pressure they


    gave off was enough to shake anyone who looked at them.


    Behind the golden warship, even more Celestial Pce disciples packed the sky.


    At a nce, there were at least a thousand of them spread across the heavens like


    a golden tide, covering the whole sky from sight.


    They flew in perfect order, their spiritual power linked together until they vaguely formed a massive battle formation. Its pressure came down like a mountain ten thousand feet high, grinding straight toward Cloudhaven City.


    And at the very front of that vast army, at the exact center of the warship''s prow,


    stood a single figure.


    It was Godric, the Lord of the Basilica.


    He still wore that golden robe marked with dragon patterns. The fabric snapped hard in the wind as it streamed behind him. A purple-gold crown sat on his head. His face was hard and cold, and when his eyes opened and closed, golden light shed within them, carrying a kind of supreme authority and naked domination.


    The terrifying pressure of the peak of True Immortal Realm Level Two burst out from


    him without the slightest restraint.


    That pressure came down like the sky itself copsing, like mountains and seas turning over, smashing down from above toward Cloudhaven City.


    On the city walls.


    Rnd''s face changed on the spot. His pupils shrank, and the shock hit him like a wave breaking over his head.


    "The Celestial Pce... it''s the Celestial Pce army!"


    Behind him, a Sky Dragon elder had gone pale, and his voice shook before he could


    steady it. "n Chief... the Celestial Pce is... is it really bringing the full strength of its whole faction to attack Cloudhaven City? How could they... how could they make a move on this scale?"


    Rnd drew in a deep breath and forced down the turmoil pressing at him. A faint surge of draconic energy moved around him as he steadied himself in ce. He knew better than anyone that the more dangerous it got, the less room he had to lose control.


    He was the Sky Dragon n Chief. He was Cloudhaven City''s warden. If he lost his footing now, everyone else would fall apart with him.


    "Move!"


    Rnd''s voice came out low and fast, carrying an order no one could question. "Activate the cityward array immediately. Push it with everything you''ve got. Gather every nsman. Get all of them up on the walls and prepare for battle!"


    "Yes!"


    The Sky Dragon champions behind him answered as one. None of them dared


    waste even a moment before turning and rushing to carry it out.


    Wooooo!


    The war horn''s low, urgent, heavy cry exploded through the sky above Cloudhaven


    City.


    One st followed another, tearing through the air and reaching every corner of the


    city.


    This was the warning horn. This was the horn of war!


    Down in the city, the people had just been going about their day. Vendors shouted


    over their goods, passersby moved through the streets, children yed, and peace still seemed to sit over everything.


    But the moment the war horn sounded, the moment they instinctively looked up at the sky, everyst one of them froze where they stood.