Immortal Martial Emperor

"City of Dawn!"

That was the name of the ancient city that had been excavated from underground.

Although it was impossible to know how many ages it had lain dormant underground, the City of Dawn didn’t look particularly dilapidated. From a distance, it still appeared to be a brand-new city.

There weren’t even many signs of damage.

The only thing missing were any signs of life.

"Huhu?"

Huhu lay sprawled on Hong Yu’s head, its eyes wide.

It was clearly curious about this sudden behemoth.

"Th-this ancient tomb... there’s an ancient city underneath it?" Landy said in shock.

Jian Chen and Xu Wudi gulped hard.

They shot Hong Yu a strange look, completely unable to figure out how the monster had discovered this city buried deep underground.

Little One’s existence was difficult to explain and was his greatest secret, so Hong Yu could only choose to ignore their questioning gazes.

He said vaguely, "While I was inspecting the ancient tomb just now, I found a few clues. I decided to test them out and didn’t expect to actually uncover an entire ancient city. It’s truly an unexpected windfall!"

The three of them were sharp people; seeing that Hong Yu was unwilling to say more, they didn’t press the matter.

Jian Chen said excitedly, "Haha, this is great! With this ancient city, we have a ready-made base of operations. All we have to do is reinforce it with some defensive arrays, gather our comrades and allies, and have them garrison this place. It’ll be a solid fortress!"

"That’s not a bad idea!"

Hong Yu nodded.

"I wonder when Feng Xue Xin and the others will get here. Time seems to be crawling by!" Landy said.

Hong Yu smiled. "No rush. Let’s go in and have a look around first!"

The four of them entered the City of Dawn side-by-side.

The city was incredibly spacious, a hundred li in circumference, large enough to accommodate hundreds of thousands of people.

Most of the buildings in the city were perfectly preserved. The few dilapidated spots were merely old houses that had collapsed. As for whether a man-made disaster or a natural catastrophe had buried this ancient city underground, that remained unknown.

"Look, quick! Those are Soul Crystal Cannons!" Landy suddenly shouted.

His eyes were filled with ecstasy.

"Soul Crystal Cannons?" Hong Yu was taken aback.

Landy nodded eagerly. He then flew a lap around the ancient city’s walls at top speed. When he returned, his face was flushed with excitement. "We’ve struck it rich! We’ve really hit the jackpot this time! These Soul Crystal Cannons are special Primordial Weapons created by powerful factions during the Ancient Era. They don’t need a Martial Artist to operate them; they only require a sufficient number of Soul Stones."

"My Ice Kingdom also has a Soul Crystal Cannon, but Soul Stones are incredibly rare. Even with the full power of the Ice Kingdom, we’ve only managed to find ten."

Landy, still caught up in his excitement, continued to gush, "But do you know what this means? A single one of those Soul Crystal Cannons is equivalent to a tireless Primordial Spirit Realm expert. Based on my quick count just now, this City of Dawn has ten fully intact Soul Crystal Cannons! That means as long as we have Soul Stones, it’s like having ten Primordial Spirit Realm experts guarding the city!"

HISS!

Hong Yu and the others all drew in a sharp breath.

Ten Primordial Spirit Realm experts?

And they were tireless, capable of being activated as long as they had Soul Stones. A city guarded by such things would be absolutely impregnable.

Even if Venerable Xiahuang and his army came to attack, they would have enough power to defend the City of Dawn!

But then Landy gave a wry smile. "Unfortunately, I just checked. The Soul Stones in every cannon have been completely depleted. Only one cannon has a fragmented Soul Stone left, with just enough power for one or two shots."

"Bring me the Soul Stone. Let me see it," Hong Yu said, pondering.

Landy nodded, skillfully opened the Soul Crystal Cannon, and took out the Soul Stone.

As soon as Hong Yu saw it, a glint flashed in his eyes. "Take a look at this!"

He then opened his palm and took out a Fire Soul Stone.

The moment the Fire Soul Stone appeared, it radiated powerful energy fluctuations as a scorching current of air swirled around it.

"Th-this is a Soul Stone! How do you have one?" Landy asked, astonished.

Hong Yu gave a mysterious smile and didn’t explain the Fire Soul Stone’s origin. Instead, he asked, "How many Soul Stones does it take to fully load one Soul Crystal Cannon?"

"Ten stones can fully load one Soul Crystal Cannon. If firing at full power, that’s enough for a hundred shots!" Landy said.

"Good!"

Hong Yu took out another one hundred Fire Soul Stones. "First, activate all ten Soul Crystal Cannons to guard against a surprise attack from Venerable Xiahuang and his men."

"Th-that many Soul Stones? My heavens..."

Landy was dumbfounded.

One must understand, the Ice Kingdom had searched for several hundred years with its full might and had only found ten Soul Stones. Yet Hong Yu had just produced one hundred in a single move. How magnanimous was that?

He was a total tycoon!

Hong Yu paid no mind to Landy’s shock and continued exploring the City of Dawn. In a magnificent mansion at the center, he discovered the array core that controlled the entire city.

It was a City Lord’s Seal, forged entirely from an unknown black metal. Inscribed upon it was the three-word title: Lord of Dawn!

’This seal... I’ll let Senior Brother Feng refine it.’

Hong Yu put it away.

The rest of the city held nothing else of particular note. By the time they returned to the city walls, Landy had already activated the ten Soul Crystal Cannons.

𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

He was incredibly excited. "With these ten Soul Crystal Cannons, not even Venerable Xiahuang himself could dream of snatching the City of Dawn from our hands!"

"Mhm!"

Jian Chen and the others were also ecstatic.

After a wait of about three hours, Feng Xue Xin and Young Master Yeban finally arrived, leading a force of around one thousand experts.

The vast procession radiated killing intent. They clearly didn’t know yet that Hong Yu had rescued Jian Chen and Landy. When they saw Hong Yu on the city wall, both Feng Xue Xin and Yeban froze for a moment before their faces lit up with wild joy.

The three brothers embraced.

Then...

Feng Xue Xin suddenly gave a mysterious smile. "Junior Brother, let me introduce you to a new friend!"

"Oh?"

Hong Yu looked over in surprise.

A massive figure squeezed its way out of the crowd—and "squeezed" was the right word, as his physique was simply enormous.

He looked to be about four or five hundred jin!

"And you are?"

Hong Yu couldn’t help but frown. He could feel powerful fluctuations of aura from the man, strong enough to make even him a little wary.

"I am Xuantian of the Black Tortoise Duchy!" The large man was none other than Xuantian.

Hong Yu started. "Xuantian? The seventh-ranked of the Ten Great Unparalleled Prodigies?"

"Haha, that’s me!"

Xuantian laughed, the fat on his face jiggling.

Hong Yu looked at Feng Xue Xin in confusion.

Feng Xue Xin just laughed, but Young Master Yeban explained, "Brother Hong, Brother Tiandu is the one who saved our lives. Back then, we were with Prince Xiahuang Shang, preparing to establish a faction together. But Prince Xiahuang Shang suddenly went into seclusion, and his three top experts took control of the situation and began to eliminate dissidents. Feng Xue Xin and I couldn’t stand it, so we had a falling out with them."

"As a result, those bastards wouldn’t let us leave. They even accused us of planning to defect to Venerable Xiahuang and tried to surround and annihilate us. Thankfully, Brother Tiandu stepped in, and we managed to escape!" said Yeban.

Xuantian scratched his head, his narrowed eyes twinkling with a clear light. "Those bastards were getting a little too arrogant. Of course I couldn’t just stand by and watch!"

"Since you saved my brothers’ lives, you are naturally my friend as well!"

Hong Yu smiled, then turned to address the crowd. "Everyone, since none of us wish to live under someone else’s roof, we can establish our own faction! Please, look! This City of Dawn will be our future base of operations. With such a great city to rely on, I believe we can also make a name for ourselves in the True Dragon Battlefield!"

"That’s right!"

"Even without them, we can still carve out a world for ourselves!"

"They haven’t even found their own headquarters, yet we have such a magnificent base of operations! Who dares say that we, who come from the various Kingdoms and Duchies, are inferior to those from the Xiahuang Ancient Kingdom?"

"We swear to follow Brother Hong to the death!"

"Let’s build the glory and honor of the City of Dawn together!"

The crowd roared in agreement.

These thousand or so people all came from the various Kingdoms. In their respective homes, they were all Sons of Celestial Pride, but in front of the people from the Xiahuang Ancient Kingdom, they were treated like country bumpkins and ostracized at every turn.

But in their days spent with Feng Xue Xin and the others, they hadn’t felt the slightest bit of pressure.

Everyone worked together with one heart, their bond like that of brothers.

Afterward, everyone entered the City of Dawn and was assigned their own cultivation grounds.

Landy was put in charge of all these arrangements. Having been born into a Royal Family, he had a high degree of skill and experience in organization, deployment, and the like.

The entire City of Dawn was already beginning to show the air of an overlord’s domain. Everything from housing allocation and troop reorganization to the defensive deployment of the city was proceeding in an orderly manner.

Meanwhile, Hong Yu led Feng Xue Xin, Yeban, and Xuantian to the City Lord’s Mansion.

He handed the City Lord’s Seal to Feng Xue Xin. "Senior Brother, this City Lord’s Seal is the control core for the entire City of Dawn’s array. You just need to refine it to become the master of the City of Dawn."

"No, you’re the one who found it. How could I be the one to refine it?" Feng Xue Xin protested.

Hong Yu shook his head. "I’m not destined to be stationed here permanently. You, on the other hand, carry the hopes and trust of so many brothers. This seal is most suitable for you."

"That’s right, Brother Feng, just accept it!"

"We’ll be at ease with you in control of the City of Dawn!" Xuantian added.

Feng Xue Xin hesitated for a moment before nodding. "Alright, then I’ll shamelessly accept!"

Feng Xue Xin then found a secluded spot in the City Lord’s Mansion and began refining the City Lord’s Seal. Refining the seal was no easy task; it would take at least three days.

Hong Yu, Yeban, and Xuantian quietly took their leave.

Outside the City Lord’s Mansion, Xuantian frowned. "Hong Yu, there’s something I need to say, but I’m not sure if I should."

"Speak your mind."

Hong Yu nodded.

Xuantian said, "This new generation of the True Dragon War is currently divided into three major factions: the Eldest Prince’s, the Fifth Prince’s, and ours. The Eldest Prince’s is the strongest, with the Fifth Prince’s second. But right now, neither of them has found a suitable headquarters. In contrast, we, the weakest faction, have occupied such a uniquely advantageous base of operations. I’m afraid they will launch a massive assault, and I wouldn’t even rule out the possibility that they’ll join forces to destroy the City of Dawn first..."

"He’s right, Brother Hong. We must guard against this," Yeban also nodded.

Hong Yu, however, just gave a playful smirk. "Don’t worry. My only fear is that they *won’t* come!"

"Huh?"

Both Yeban and Xuantian were stunned. Then, as if realizing something, a look of horror appeared in their eyes.

......

Not long after the City of Dawn had risen from the earth and Feng Xue Xin’s group had begun their orderly takeover of the ancient city, news of the event reached the ears of the experts in the factions of Venerable Xiahuang and Xiahuang Shang. The experts of both camps had nearly the same reaction to this information.

Namely, that such an ancient city absolutely could not be allowed to fall into the hands of the lowly Feng Xue Xin and his followers.

And so, both factions dispatched powerful forces, which marched, vast and mighty, toward the City of Dawn.

At their speed, they would likely arrive within three days.

At that time, another bloody storm would sweep across the land. But this time, who would have the last laugh?

That remained to be seen.