Beastmaster of the Ages

Long Wanying had been feeling extra tired in recent days, thanks to having to settle so many people down. It was necessary to prevent conflict from occurring and secure enough rations for everyone. Even so, the arrival of so many did serve to considerably boost the might of the Xuanyuan Dragon Sect.

More and more refugees flocked to them, all seeking protection. However, there was a limit to the number of people the resources of the Xuanyuan Dragon Sect\'s territory could sustain. While it could make do in the short term, the problems would only be exacerbated with time. Much of it was due to the loss of territories, and thereby access to the resources within them. Yet as long as the Divine Sun Palace existed, the siege wouldn’t end. The extermination of the Windheed Pavilion was a rather harrowing tale for every second-rate faction.

"Don\'t worry, we\'ll allocate places for all of you to stay. Please leave the divine astralship in an orderly fashion."

The biggest problem yet was forming the refugees into organized fighting forces. Everyone in Long Wanying\'s internal affairs department was so tired that they could barely spare attention for anything else.

"As for the sixty million troops that left with the Ninedragon Imperial Tomb, please remain within for now!" Tianming ordered. Only the cultivators from the Land of Three Skies had been let out, while the others remained. It was much more spacious and comfortable than before now that half of the passengers had disembarked.

"Why did the first alliance leader ask us to stay?"

"Maybe he plans to go out and fight the sun emperor?"

"That doesn\'t seem likely. I think we\'re just on standby so the Ninedragon Imperial Tomb can deploy at a moment\'s notice."

"Currently, there’s around a hundred and thirty million fighters here that can measure up against the celestial orderian troops. We\'ll keep sixty million in the Ninedragon Imperial Tomb to counterbalance the sixty million troops in the Divine Sun Palace while the rest will defend the Myriaddragon Mountains."

"I wonder how the Windheed Pavilion is doing...."

"Li Tianming doesn\'t look too good."

"Let\'s not panic. The Divine Sun Palace\'s reactivation came as a surprise thanks to a backup core. However, we still managed to avoid being wiped out. That\'s already rather lucky."

"Now’s the time to trust Li Tianming!"

"You\'re right."

The Ninedragon Army troops that remained inside were Tianming\'s loyal supporters. With them around, the other troops managed to retain their fighting spirit, even though they were still a little disorganized. If even they lost their morale, the Myriad Solar Sects would be done for.

......

Tianming entered a hall on the Great Saintdragon Peak with the Saintdragon Emperor to see Long Wanying and the other Dragon Imperials. The Northdipper Swordsage, Ninesun Martial Lord, Fushen Gongyi, and many other sect masters remained in communication with him through Yin Chen.

"Tianming, how’s it going?" they asked in unison.

"The Windheed Pavilion has fallen. All who remained were wiped out, Senior Fengling included."

Yin Chen reported that they had charged toward the Divine Sun Palace after the formation fell, only to be blasted into smithereens. Tianming could imagine what it must have been like even without witnessing it himself. The news caused everyone to wallow in gloom. The other second-rate factions\' sect masters felt worse off after hearing about the fate of the Windheed Pavilion.

"We don\'t have much time left. Aunt Ying, I plan to use Yin Chen to communicate with the other second-rate faction sect masters. Everyone must know what happened to the Windheed Pavilion."

Even a slight delay could result in the deaths of millions and the loss of eons of legacies. There weren’t more than ninety second-rate faction sect masters in total; Tianming didn\'t believe that they would risk their own destruction to be spies for the celestial orderians. Not to mention, even if Yin Chen\'s existence was revealed, it didn\'t matter now. The sun emperor was already aware of some kind of omnipresent surveillance device and had stopped his plotting. By now, Yin Chen no longer afforded any surveillance advantage, but it still helped with instant communication.

Metallic insects flew toward the hesitating sect masters in the forms of butterflies, locusts, cockroaches, or spiders. Tianming informed them about what happened to Windheed Pavilion, including who had evacuated and who remained. The elders had stayed to ensure that they served as a good example for their descendants, fighting to the death against the invaders.

"We’re short on time, so we shouldn\'t just be scrambling to run. Instead, we need to pick a strategic spot where we can fight back from. We can resist the invaders\' advance! The Windheed Pavilion bought us some time. I hope you all understand now that grade-seven formations are unable to defend against the Divine Sun Palace, but grade-eight formations might work. The backup core isn\'t able to channel the Divine Sun Palace\'s full power, so that might be the last hope for our survival. We still have time to evacuate people now, but that\'ll no longer be possible once the celestial orderians\' main army marches south."

No doubt there were many in the second-rate factions who wanted to stay behind like Fengling Suyu had. However, Tianming knew that most of them would make the rational decision while they still had a sliver of hope. Fengling Suyu had chosen to fly into the fire like a moth, and her dedication was praiseworthy. However, the second-rate factions would do well to retreat to a better location before fighting back. After all, there were still those from the Windheed Pavilion that didn\'t waste their time and evacuated.

"Her actions have shown that staying back only results in destruction. If the other second-rate factions seek to emulate that, however, her efforts would’ve been rendered pointless." Tianming knew that her other goal was to ensure that the Myriad Solar Sects wouldn’t forget the Windheed Pavilion, Tianming especially. As long as there was hope for the future generation, their descendants could still rebuild.