Darklake Empire was but an ordinary third rank cultivation empire at the end of the day. It would still be bullied by its peer, the Tianlong Empire, if not for Lu Tianling, to say nothing of becoming independent of Dark Orchid.

Lu Tianling had continuously deployed a secret art all this time to conceal Situ Wenxian’s cultivation level of latter combination stage. The Lu patriarch was as if a god to the emperor. Rather than simple respect between disciple and master, Situ Wenxian venerated his master to the point of placing all his faith in Lu Tianling.

……

The stirring Darklake Empire fully quieted down after Lu Yun’s return. The great armies that’d assembled returned to their posts, but no longer had to hide themselves.

Darklake powerhouses concealed in other higher ranked empires returned home with boundless resources. Their addition swelled a mere third rank empire’s strength to more than ten thousand times stronger than before.

Darklake’s...