After Sir Dust-Sun was turned into a candle and Seventh Prince went into hiding, the crisis facing Sea-Sealing County was temporarily abated. The uprisings in the county were quickly put down.

One aspect related to how Master Seventh struck like lightning. But the bigger reason was how a Dawning Sun had been used to wipe out the imperial capital in the old Kingdom of Heavengale. There was no way such an event could be kept under wraps; before long, rumors were raging throughout the Holytide Region. Even nonhumans out on the Forbidden Sea heard about it, and they were left trembling and terror-struck. More than ever, they feared and respected Sea-Sealing County.

All species were pessimistic to a certain degree. And a Dawning Sun was particularly effective on the pessimistic. It was a threat that could destroy any and all plans. It could shake everyone to the core. And of course… when unleashed, it would kill anyone present to see it.

No one could figure out how Sea-Sealing County managed to create Dawning Suns, nor did anyone know how many they had left. And no one wanted to gamble to find out.

When the Dawning Suns first appeared, there had been a species that gambled on it. They were called Nightshades. They suffered severe losses, to the point where they nearly faced extinction. That alone was a message to any species later on who might think about gambling with Dawning Suns.

As a result, the nonhumans who had besieged Seven Blood Eyes quickly retreated. And they did so very respectfully, by offering gifts of recompense in the hopes of dispelling any potential grudges.

But could things really be resolved that easily? War wasn’t a situation in which you could just attack someone whenever you wanted, and then go back to being peaceful just because you felt like it. Therefore, Master Seventh personally visited most of the nonhuman species and forced them to enter into some very one-sided treaties. After all was said and done, those nonhumans ended up in a worse position than the Merfolk Isles had been in years ago. They were completely under the control of Sea-Sealing County. In a very short time, Sea-Sealing County’s prestige in the Holytide Region skyrocketed.

Xu Qing’s name once again made the rounds, and not just in Sea-Sealing County, but in the Forbidden Sea, in South Phoenix, and in the Holytide Region as a whole.

Around that time, it occurred to historians from many species that these circumstances were very similar to something else that happened years ago. It was akin to an earlier era, when the Sovereign Kingdom of Violet and Cyan existed, and the Crown Prince of Violet and Cyan was just as famous as Emperor Mirrorcloud. Now, after countless years, Sea-Sealing County was rising to prominence again. And Xu Qing… was also rising to prominence.

What was more, because the “Qing” in Xu Qing’s name was the same character as “Cyan” from the Sovereign Kingdom of Violet and Cyan, some species started to speculate if his bloodline stretched back to that ancient kingdom. Of course, it was only a guess.

Meanwhile, Marquis Yao and his people easily rescued Kong Xianglong and the 10,000 Sea-Sealing County cultivators. Considering the deadly trials those cultivators had faced, it was no surprise that Xu Qing met them outside the city, joined by the cream of the crop from Sea-Sealing County.

When the two groups caught sight of each other, excited cheering rang out in all directions. Most of the survivors had assumed that they would all end up dead. Therefore, being able to return to Sea-Sealing County was like a dream come true. In fact, tears flowed as they looked at their home.

As for Xu Qing, his heart swelled with emotion, as he recognized many fellow veterans in the crowd, as well as a good friend.

That friend was Kong Xianglong.

Kong Xianglong had been injured badly, and he looked a lot older than before. His personality had changed as well. He wasn’t wild and unruly like before. He seemed old-school and solemn. When Xu Qing looked at him, it almost seemed like he was looking at Palace Lord Kong.

Kong Xianglong had long since experienced a cultivation base breakthrough. As the former number one chosen in Sea-Sealing County, it made sense that he was in the great circle of Nascent Soul, and was half a step into the dao begetting phase. Cultivation progress like that was secondary only to Xu Qing. From that it could be seen how hard he had worked over the years. He must also have come across some destined opportunities.

Spotting Xu Qing, his eyes glittered, and he made his way through the crowd. Xu Qing also walked forward. Excited cheering swelled as Xu Qing and Kong Xianglong met each other and embraced.

Then Kong Xianglong took three steps back, dropped to one knee, and offered a formal swordsage salute.

“Greetings, Governor!”

The entire army behind him dropped to their knees and said the same thing.

Xu Qing took a deep breath, looked out at the crowd, and nodded.

“Welcome home!”

The cheering became deafening. As of this moment, everyone in Sea-Sealing County was united.

On the seventh day after Kong Xianglong’s return, Xu Qing received word from Zhang San that his dreadnaught was ready.

Zhang San wasn’t capable of crafting such a dreadnaught on his own, so he had returned to Seven Blood Eyes to build a team. And after that, he’d gone to the Seazombie lands. It was with the help of the Seven Blood Eyes taboo treasure that he had crafted Xu Qing’s dreadnaught.

Although Sir Dust-Sun’s schemes and the Forbidden Sea nonhuman uprising had caused some setbacks, in the end, the construction process went fairly smoothly. After the construction was complete, the only thing the dreadnaught lacked was a power source from Xu Qing.

When Xu Qing got the news, his heart filled with anticipation. He’d had a dharmaboat from the very beginning of his path of cultivation, and thus, they were very significant to him. After all, in the past, he had lived on his dharmaboat, and it had helped him to resolve many crises.

Without any hesitation, Xu Qing left the county capital, standing atop Qingqin as they whistled through the air toward Seazombie lands. Qingqin was very pleased to be able to head out with Xu Qing once again. His constant thunderous caws as they flew along made it seem like he was chatting with heaven. Xu Qing was in a good mood as well, and occasionally laughed out loud. The two of them matched well. Occasionally, Qingqin would harness light and then release it in all directions, and Xu Qing would harness his seven-colored light to augment it. Qingqin was very pleased.

It only took about a day for them to cross most of Sea-Sealing County. Along the way, they passed the Ghost Emperor mountain. Xu Qing looked at it from a distance and sighed in his heart. He knew Third Elder Brother was there working on his cultivation, though it wasn’t possible to spot him from this far away.

Xu Qing was very different than he had been in the past. As of now, he knew exactly how powerful a Smoldering God was that could shoulder two major worlds. The Heir Apparent only had a single major world, while Princess Brightblossom and Ninth Sib each had two. The Ghost Emperor was obviously like Ninth Sib, being an expert in battle. A second-stage Smoldering God who was an expert in fighting and had such incredible battle prowess was obviously terrifying.

“He doesn’t have two major worlds!” Ninth Sib said, his voice cold. “He has lingering traces of an additional three major worlds. Sadly, they were all destroyed. But in his prime, he was a five-world Smoldering God! He’s not a cultivator from my era. He came later. Regardless, he’s breathtaking.”

Though Ninth Sib’s voice was cold, it also seemed somewhat melancholy.

“He wasn’t killed by a god, but rather, by an Imperial Sovereign. Xu Qing, since you’ve taken up his mantle, it’s entirely possible that you might provoke karma from him when you travel in foreign lands in the future. That said, his soul experienced a catastrophe before you came along. Remember. If one of his physical or spiritual souls dies, you need to get back to Moonrite immediately.”

Xu Qing shivered as he looked at the Ghost Emperor mountain.

Qingqin didn’t appear to notice anything. They passed the Ghost Emperor mountain, reached the Forbidden Sea, and eventually arrived at the Seazombie ancestral lands. In the past, the most eye-catching thing there was the Seven Blood Eyes taboo treasure, which was formed from all the Seazombie ancestor statues. That included the enormous blood-red mirror hovering in the sky with its nine closed eyes.

But now there was something that surpassed that by far.

It was a huge sphere, about half as big as the entire island itself. It was violet, and it glowed brightly with dazzling light. It looked almost like a sun that had descended into the mortal world. It also emanated intense heat in all directions. Tempest winds circulated around it, carrying the heat with it. It was actually correct to say… that this thing was a sun.

The construction was complete. Also on the island were 100,000 Seven Blood Eyes cultivators who were assembled and waiting for Xu Qing to arrive.

When Xu Qing caught sight of the sun, his jaw nearly dropped. But then, as expected, he caught sight of the Captain standing next to Zhang San. The two were talking to each other. When they spotted Xu Qing, the Captain laughed heartily and walked over to him.

“What do you think, little Ah Qing?” the Captain said proudly. “Are you pleased with this dreadnaught, or are you pleased?”

Xu Qing looked at the huge violet sun, and realized that he could sense within it the very same ancient sun he had carried at his waist for so long.

The Captain had taken it before the battle with Crimson Mother, except, when he released the Dawning Suns, he hadn’t used it.

Off to the side, Zhang San chuckled wryly. “My original design didn’t look like this,” he said with a sigh. “But the Captain said you like suns…. So he took out something called Big Roundy to serve as the core. He said it’s one of the Dawning Suns…. I didn’t believe it at first, but now I do.” Pointing at the violet sun, Zhang San said, “This thing really is a Dawning Sun now!”

Xu Qing didn’t say anything.

The Captain threw his head back and laughed uproariously. Looking very pleased with himself, he threw his arm around Xu Qing’s shoulders and loudly said, “From now on, whenever we go traveling, we’ll take this thingy. I look forward very much to seeing who would dare cause problems for us while we’re riding a Dawning Sun. It’ll cause all light to dim, and will cast terror into the hearts of countless species.

“Now, you usually blow up your dharmaboats, right? Well, that’s fine. You can blow it up any time you want! If anybody causes problems for us, then you can just blow them the hell up! Furthermore, I heard that some species in the Holytide Region have been claiming that we don’t have a second Dawning Sun. Well, who the hell would dare to say that now, huh? We can just take this Dawning Sun and put it right on their doorstep, the fools!”

Xu Qing opened his mouth to speak, but realized he wasn’t sure what to say. On the one hand, he had to admit that riding a Dawning Sun around would be impressive. But it would also be dangerous. After all, what would happen if it really did explode…?

This definitely was not the dreadnaught he had imagined. It was more like a fortress. That said, having something as threatening as this… really was astounding.

Qingqin gasped and made a few cawing sounds. This time, Xu Qing understood what he meant. Qingqin was calling it ‘terrifying.’

“Little Ah Qing, I already thought of a name for it. It’s called Violet Roundy. Good name, don’t you agree? And now, Violet Roundy just needs a power source. I know what you’re going to use. Hahaha! I can’t wait to see what happens when you put some of Crimson Mother’s flesh into Violet Roundy. Then it’ll really shine!”

The Captain’s eyes shone brightly and without an ounce of fear.𝓯𝘳𝘦𝓌𝘦ℴ𝘷𝘦.𝘰𝑚