This battle at the border of the Cangyun Great Kingdom was destined to become a defining chapter in the history of the human race.
From the moment Emperor Danji had formed the Northern Alliance, virtually every cultivator across the human territories had written off the Glazed King City, convinced it would shatter under the Northern Alliance's onslaught.
But the process defied expectations, and the outcome defied them even more.
Stripped of his power, Emperor Danji was reduced to the likeness of a dead dog. Swarms of Gold-Munching Mice descended upon him, gnawing and devouring without pause. In the blink of an eye, nothing remained but a skeleton of bare white bone.
Though Emperor Danji had been stripped of his cultivation, the vital essence within his body had not yet had time to dissipate. For the Gold-Munching Mouse clan, this was a golden opportunity to feast and grow stronger.
Watching the once-invincible Emperor Danji become a skeleton in an instant, every last one of his followers was struck with indescribable horror.
Emperor Danji's fall was like a monument that had stood tall in their hearts crumbling to the ground. None of them could have imagined that the near-invincible Emperor Danji would be crushed so effortlessly by Jiang Chen.
This was what a gulf in power truly looked like.
Every time, Emperor Danji and his Dan Fire City had schemed and plotted against Jiang Chen. And this time, Jiang Chen had finally had enough. He had struck down with thunderous force, obliterating Emperor Danji and the Dan Fire City alike.
It suddenly dawned on everyone.
It had never been that the Glazed King City feared the Dan Fire City and dared not fight back.
Rather, the Glazed King City and Young Master Jiang Chen had never once regarded the Dan Fire City as a long-term rival. In their eyes, Emperor Danji was nothing more than a buffoon — a clown who had overstepped his bounds!
The people of the Dan Fire City had been eliminated one after another, but Jiang Chen did not withdraw the Gold-Munching Mouse tide. Instead, he had them continue to surround the turncoats who had switched sides.
Jiang Chen had no faith in such defections.
These people had only chosen to leave the Dan Fire City's ranks under the pressure of life and death.
"The eight great sects of the Upper Eight Regions were supposed to be the pillars of this realm. And what have you done? Day after day, you deceive each other, sit in your positions doing nothing of worth!"
"I am sparing your lives today, not because you are innocent. Consider yourselves warned."
Jiang Chen paused, his gaze turning cold as it swept toward the Eternal Heavenly Capital. The Heavenly Capital's master met that gaze and felt a shudder run through his entire body.
"Luo Jue, I can let the other sects go — I can accept that they were coerced by the Dan Fire City. But your Eternal Heavenly Capital is beyond forgiveness!"
The Eternal Heavenly Capital had long since been placed on Jiang Chen's list of those that must be destroyed.
The Heavenly Capital's master, Luo Jue, snarled: "Young Master Jiang Chen, you first tricked me into surrendering my resistance, and now you go back on your word?"
Jiang Chen smiled faintly. "There's no need for sophistry. I don't buy it. Whether you resisted or not, it would have made no difference to the outcome."
A flicker of panic crossed the Heavenly Capital master's face, and he cried out: "Jiang Chen! You can even pardon these die-hard allies of the Dan Fire City, yet you won't show the same mercy to my Eternal Heavenly Capital? Yes, we were guilty in the matter of the Myriad Phenomena Region all those years ago. But has the rule of survival of the fittest not prevailed in the human territories since ancient times? My Eternal Heavenly Capital did what it did — and the Nine Sun Heavenly Sect did the same! Why is it that you, Young Master Jiang Chen, single out only my Eternal Heavenly Capital?"
The Heavenly Capital master was still trying to talk his way out.
"Survival of the fittest?" Jiang Chen let out an amused laugh. "Is that how you understand it? Very well — you are now the weak prey. May I, the strong, feast upon you?"
Jiang Chen turned his own weapon against its wielder, leaving the Heavenly Capital master utterly speechless.
Indeed. If it was truly survival of the fittest, then why could the Glazed King City not annihilate his Eternal Heavenly Capital?
The Heavenly Capital master opened his mouth, still trying to argue. But Jiang Chen gave him no chance. He issued a direct command: "Da Shi, strike!"
Jiang Chen was decisive and ruthless. His mind had been made up long ago.
The Heavenly Capital master — the Eternal Heavenly Capital as a whole — their strength lagged far behind even the Dan Fire City. If neither the Dan Fire City nor Emperor Danji could avert their own destruction, then the Eternal Heavenly Capital stood no chance whatsoever.
The Heavenly Capital master attempted a last desperate struggle, but under the overwhelming suppression of the eight brothers of the Giant Stone Clan, he could not stir even a ripple. He met the same end as Emperor Danji.
From that day forward, the landscape of the Upper Eight Regions was completely overturned.
Among the eight great sects, the Eternal Heavenly Capital was officially erased. The two great powers — the Dan Fire City and the Glazed King City — had clashed, and the bold emerged victorious. The Glazed King City stood as the final winner.
As for the Dan Fire City, it had utterly collapsed, marking the definitive end of an era.
For the Glazed King City, this was an undisputed total victory — and a heaven-sent opportunity.