He had used his eldest son's original body as a vessel for Nailuotian, which was why he had indulged and doted on his eldest son to the extreme over the past decade or so, hoping to soothe the guilt in his heart.
Few knew of Zhong Shengguang's grand aspiration and faith. Not to mention the commoners of the Panlong Wasteland who knew nothing of it, even among Panlong City's high command, hardly any truly understood.
To stand against Beijia and the celestial gods, Zhong Shengguang could never do it alone; he had to unite the strength of the millions living across the Panlong Wasteland and the Maohe Plain.
This path was perilous and treacherous, with no precedent for success. Zhong Shengguang must have known that his decision would drag these millions into an even longer, more brutal war.
Therefore, before the true grand war arrived, the people of the Panlong Wasteland deserved to enjoy peace, prosperity, dignity, and self-confidence.
Even if such good times did not last long, at least they had once had them.
Perhaps this was Zhong Shengguang's small token of compensation to the kind, unsuspecting common folk.
He Lingchuan sighed softly in his heart.
Everyone had to bear responsibility for their own choices and convictions. Perhaps this was the inner demon and agony that Zhong Shengguang had to carry alone.
While waiting for the chicken to finish braising, He Lingchuan asked about Panlong City's recent situation and learned that the Panlong Wasteland had welcomed many new residents.
Seven or eight great demons had led their broods to relocate onto the wasteland.
"Like the wasteland elephants?"
"That's only one of them," Sun Fuling said with a smile. "Many tribes from the west and south have moved in one after another. Panlong City is currently racking its brains over how to settle them all."
"Why did so many people arrive all of a sudden?"
"The soil and water here have improved, capable of sustaining far more people," Sun Fuling said wistfully. "Emperor's Flowing Dew came, yet their homelands remain impoverished and barren. A tree moved dies, but a person moved thrives—people naturally gravitate toward better places."
The stability and growing prosperity of the Panlong Wasteland naturally attracted living beings from all around.
Although Panlong City did not reach its hands southward, there was nothing to stop the people of the south from wanting to come on their own.
"As for the great demons that migrated over, some received invitations from Commander Zhong, while others came of their own accord, drawn by our reputation." Most great demons were high-end combat power; since they were willing to join, Panlong City naturally turned none away. "Unfortunately, demons like Second Madame Zhu who come bringing their own resources and produce are far too rare."
"How did Commander Zhong persuade them?"
Sun Fuling shrugged. "I wouldn't know about that. But your kestrel mentioned to me that since we defeated the allied forces of Baling and Xianyou, Panlong City's reputation out there has grown quite formidable."
Not just humans, demons admired strength too. A mighty local power could attract powerful forces to pledge allegiance.
That was the principle of the strong only growing stronger.
He Lingchuan remarked with feeling, "Panlong City has finally grown strong."
As far as he knew, in true history, Panlong City had been squeezed from all sides and held out for thirty-two years before withering away to its death. But here, Zhong Shengguang and Panlong City had broken through into an entirely new chapter, gaining an opportunity for thriving development.
For now, everything was looking up.
This was the watershed between history and reality.
Did this mean Panlong City would have a chance to write a brand-new history and walk a path entirely different from reality?
He felt excited and deeply expectant.
Just then, he heard diners at an adjacent table murmuring, "The new king has summoned us; why shouldn't we go back? We're still Xiluo people."
New king? He Lingchuan keenly caught the key word.
"Are you stupid?" His companion was gnawing on a chicken foot and nearly rapped a chicken bone against his head. "Two years ago we were ready to go back, but the Xiluo Kingdom wouldn't let us! The Gale Army had already marched halfway there before the monarch issued repeated stern orders driving them back!"
"That's not what I mean... Sigh, when my father passed away five years ago, right up until the end his heart was set on going back to see his homeland."
The companion shook his head. "Fool! Look at the people in the south fleeing hardship just to come to Panlong. Are you that eager to vacate a spot for someone else?"
This topic was like wildfire; once ignited, diners all around chimed in with chatter. He Lingchuan turned to Sun Fuling and asked, "I've been gone for half a year—what sort of nonsense has the Xiluo Kingdom stirred up now?"
Sun Fuling glanced at the customers and sighed. "You just got back. I originally wanted to share a happy meal with you first."
"The moment I saw you, I was already happy; this meal is merely the icing on the cake," He Lingchuan teased with a smile. "Tell me about it. I can take it."
"Half a month after you departed for the Shanjin Plain, the skies shifted in the Xiluo Kingdom. The formerly unfavored Second Prince launched a mutiny to seize power and successfully took the throne, placing the old monarch under house arrest."
*Holy crap, a usurpation?* He Lingchuan raised an eyebrow. The upheaval was remarkably swift—so brief in its course that it rivaled the fall of the Bo Kingdom.
Of course, the Xiluo Kingdom had not fallen; it had merely changed rulers.
"After ascending the throne, the Second Prince sent two successive royal edicts to Panlong City, ordering us to return the Xianyou territories we conquered earlier, along with the lands taken from two small countries to the west, and recalling Commander Zhong to the capital."
A diner nearby overheard and chimed in, "Aye, who knows what our motherland is thinking! When we need help, they can't lift a finger to aid us. Yet the territories we won with our own blood and sweat—they want to take them and play the generous peacemaker!"
He Lingchuan took a sip of chicken soup. "Panlong City expands its territory out here—what does that have to do with the Xiluo Kingdom?"
Separated by Jintao in between, the ties between Xiluo and Panlong City were tenuous. After trying twice, the previous old monarch realized he had no way of ordering Panlong City around.
He had recalled the Vice Commander once, but when he summoned him a second time, Panlong City did not budge.
As for Zhong Shengguang, He Lingchuan knew his ambition—or rather, his aspirations—very well. After becoming completely disillusioned with the Xiluo Kingdom, Zhong Shengguang set his sights upon the wider world and investigated Beijia; how could he possibly care about the feeble Xiluo anymore?
Now that upheaval had struck the Xiluo Kingdom, the new monarch was bossing Panlong City around right after taking power. There was something decidedly unusual about this.
Whether it was making Panlong City surrender conquered lands or recalling Zhong Shengguang, there was no way Panlong City would comply.
So what was the point of the new Xiluo monarch issuing these two edicts?
He Lingchuan smelled ill intent.
His mind immediately leapt to Beijia.
The surrounding states remained of little consequence, with only Panlong City defying the odds and flourishing over the years. Time and again it had thwarted Beijia's plots, and now it was expanding outward from the Panlong Wasteland with unstoppable momentum.
Today, Panlong City's territory had expanded drastically, already half the size of Xiluo, and it looked well on its way to becoming the hegemon of this continent.
Its past strategy of concealing itself among petty kingdoms, keeping a low profile, and quietly building its strength was no longer viable—just as an elephant could never conceal itself in bushes.
Panlong City was likely already a thorn in Beijia's side.
The frail Xiluo Kingdom shared a land border with Beijia; to Beijia, wasn't it the easiest puppet to pull by the strings?
Sun Fuling added, "The second edict also raised Panlong City's taxes, demanding that starting this year, the tribute silver we submit must increase by sixty percent."
She offered He Lingchuan a piece of obscure trivia: "Actually, ever since Panlong City restored contact with Xiluo, it has been paying tax silver back to the homeland all along."
Chapter 1141