“You won’t bother Dusk Province for a thousand years?” Lu Yun snorted at the black iron staff. “Who was it that a divine whelp had to save there last time, I wonder?”

Scarlet Ape fell silent.

Last time, the North Sea monster spirits had invaded Dusk Province en masse, only for Lu Yun to repel them completely. Many of the province’s lives had been lost in the process, but the defenders had ultimately won a pyrrhic victory.

“That’s not a condition,” the young man shook his head. “Don’t think for a second that your ‘sacred land’ and gathering of ragtag homeless monster spirits makes you a forefather of anybody. My strength has grown, too.”

In addition to the North Sea Palace’s riches,...