Chapter 1229 After the War

• “Mr. King.” Damon King was about to leave when a voice from behind stopped him. The one who spoke was the Dark Pope. The Skeleton King and the true female commander of the Beast Legion walked over as well. Then Tinuk, the former chairman of the Illuminati, came last—four peak Grandmasters arriving together. “What is it?” Damon kept his face calm. “Mm.” The Dark Pope nodded. “Now that the Angel Holy Emperor is dead, the Angel Holy Church still has power. Strong people are hiding in the shadows—including the few who fled just now—and there’s their territory in the central region. Mr. King, what’s your plan?” The Skeleton King pulled a heavy cloak over his skeletal frame. “Since everyone’s here today, how about we set some rules?” “Yeah.” The Beast Legion’s commander, a young woman, nodded in support. “Might as well while it’s easy…” Only Tinuk stayed silent. “I get what you mean,” Damon said with a slight nod. He understood them. He had zero interest in grabbing land. He could walk away right now and not care. But he couldn’t do that. The Venmos family, the Lanting clan, and the eight hundred veterans behind him—they’d followed him all the way here. If he just left, those two families would be finished. He wasn’t heartless. After a brief pause, he said, “I never thought about this. I’m not big on territory. Let the people under us talk it through.” He honestly didn’t know how to negotiate this. “…” The Dark Pope and the others froze for a second. Let the underlings talk? Wasn’t this the kind of thing the top dogs decided with one word? “Works for me.” The Beast Legion’s commander agreed first, smiling. “Looks like Mr. King doesn’t want to waste time on small stuff. Then we’ll have our subordinates handle the talks.” The others thought it over—fine. “But what about the Angel Holy Church remnants?” the Skeleton King asked. “We hunt them down,” everyone except Damon said in unison. Tinuk suddenly spoke. “I’ll take Wenlan City’s side. I’ll be in charge of hunting down the old Holy Emperor.” Damon: “???” He wanted to ask… Since when the hell did you become one of Wenlan City’s people? He thought about it and said nothing. The others traded looks at Tinuk and kept quiet. Seems Tinuk had no plans to rebuild the Illuminati. Good. One less faction fighting over turf. Whether he joined Wenlan City or not—they didn’t care. The Angel Holy Church had deep roots. So did they. “Then that’s that,” the Dark Pope said with a nod. “Each faction sends at least a peak god-tier fighter to hunt the remnants of the Angel Holy Church.” As for half-step supreme experts—those were the real foundations. Nobody wanted to expose those. “Alright, settled.” Damon turned to leave. He almost said, Enough talk. I’m out. Busy guy here. … Boom! Damon dropped from the sky, with the Old Demon, the Fire Demon, and Tinuk behind him—and eight hundred veterans in tow. “Why are you following?” Damon glanced back at Tinuk. “Heh heh.” Tinuk fumbled for words. “Of course I’m joining Wenlan City?” “???” Damon looked at him like, You kidding me? But Tinuk’s face stayed dead serious. “Whatever.” Damon didn’t bother arguing. “Join if you want.” “City Lord…” A crowd rushed up from the front. Lan Kuang and Ashidai led the way, with Wenlan City’s cultivators behind them. Right now, they were all fired up. They looked at Damon like he was a god. Their excitement was simple: they’d bet on the right man. The Angel Holy Church had suffered a crushing defeat. The four factions scored a sweeping victory. A feast was coming their way. It was easy to imagine Wenlan City going into a full-blown boom, rising to become a true major local power. As for the ones who ran before the battle or had their own little schemes—they’d probably gotten the news by now and were kicking themselves. “Lan Kuang. Ashidai…” Damon called their names. “You two will handle talks with the other three factions on how to divide the Angel Holy Church’s territory. Power… draw the lines however you see fit.” “Yes.” The two stepped forward, thrilled. They glanced at one another and saw the heat in each other’s eyes. There was a hint of challenge in their looks. Yeah… how much they could win for Wenlan City this time would decide how high their families could climb later. Now they were rivals. Damon looked over the cultivators trailing behind him, their eyes shining with excitement. “I’m not good at divvying up resources. You guys figure it out.” He turned away, ignoring the crowd’s wild urge to kneel. He had someone bring a car around, got in, and left. The Fire Demon, Tinuk, the Old Demon, and the eight hundred veterans followed. Everyone else was too busy being thrilled. The second Damon left, the crowd exploded. “Ha! We’re loaded. Knew it—fortune favors the bold…” “Lan bro, check this out…” “Miss Ashidai, our Abis family…” “…” Lan Kuang and Ashidai were suddenly the hottest tickets in town. Their families’ cultivators and guards straightened up even more, pride swelling. “Everyone,” Lan Kuang and Ashidai said, half laughing, half crying, “This is huge. We can’t hash it out here. Let’s head back to the city.” “Yeah, back to the city.” “And…” Lan Kuang remembered something. “Your factions aren’t just in Wenlan City. You’re spread across the eastern lands. Have your families pull people into the central region. Move fast and chew up the resources there.” He was sure other big forces would do the same right away. “Then move!” Everyone panicked at once. There was no signal in the Holy Mountain’s range—they had to hurry and notify their clans. … Vroom, vroom, vroom! Engines roared as a line of vehicles sped toward Wenlan City. In the first off-road truck, only four people rode: Damon, the Fire Demon, the Old Demon, plus the driver. Tinuk had taken a spot in the cars behind. The guy seemed a little scared of Damon, avoiding sitting near him if he could. “Crunch, crunch.” The Fire Demon was still stuffing food in his mouth. “City Lord,” the Old Demon asked suddenly, “What do we do next?” Damon thought about it, then shook his head. “Nothing.” Until he got wind of the next artifact, he’d stay in Wenlan City for a while. Of the Seven Artifacts, he had three and a half now. Next, he needed time to get used to the Gravity Orb—and to track down the fifth artifact. As for the other half of the Heavenly Cloud Sword, he knew who had it. No rush. … The motorcade rolled into Wenlan City and stopped in front of Eastern Manor. The huge estate was empty all around. Nobody dared go near. Eastern Manor was now Wenlan City’s forbidden zone. “Rest up,” Damon said as he hopped out. “Yes.” Hong Si led the eight hundred veterans away in an instant. The Fire Demon had a clear goal—he dove straight into the kitchen. The Old Demon headed to his room to meditate. He’d gained a lot from this fight.