1821 Unclear Situation

Alex rushed out of the ship, quickly making his way back to the group that was staring at the golden sphere where the Dragon Emperor was most likely inside.

"Any changes?" Alex asked.

"Nope, none," Yan Yating said. "No matter how much we attack, we can't seem to put a mark on the sphere at all."

Alex frowned. "We can't even be certain if he's dead or not," he said. "We'll have to act under the impression that he is still uninjured and recovering inside the sphere."

Alex turned and gave an order to everyone who could hear him. "Stop attacking!" he shouted. "Reserve your strength for when he comes out."

Many of the people stopped attacking, but a few didn't know if they should follow his command or not. Alex wasn't their ruler, so they were uncertain.

"His words as my words," Pearl shouted toward the ones, especially the beasts who hesitated. "Do what he says."

The beasts stopped attacking.

A few of the ancestors of the many families and sects that had appeared on the battlefield made their way toward Alex to understand the situation even better.

The sect master of the Ice Mist Palace, Bing Zheshuang was the first to speak.

"Your Majesty, have you any idea what is going on, or what we should be doing instead of attacking?" she asked Alex.

Alex shook his head. "I do not know what is going on with that sphere, just that we cannot seem to budge it even the slightest," he said. "For now, look after your people and make sure they are unhurt. If they are wounded and you lack pills, hand over some resources, our alchemists will make the necessary pills for you."

"That won't be required, your Majesty," the woman said.

The others asked a few questions too, some even wanted to meet Pearl directly. A few went up to Long Huan and asked him about Long Fangyu, giving their condolences before leaving the place.

Alex turned to Long Huan when they were finally free and asked if he knew anything about the golden barrier that had appeared or anything about the Golden Dragon shield.

"Both the Golden Dragon Shield and the Noble Dragon Spear are artifacts that the Dragon Emperor is supposed to possess when they ascend the throne," Long Huan said. "It is only then that anyone learns about those artifacts. I cannot tell you what is special about either of those artifacts with just my own knowledge."

"I do believe the Golden Dragon shield is a lot older than the Noble Dragon Spear though," Yan Yating spoke from the side.

"Yes," Long Huan said. "The Noble Dragon spear was something that was only awarded to my family some few generations ago. However, the Golden Dragon shield has been in the family since the very first generation."

"I cannot tell you whether this information is true or not, but it is said that the first Azure Dragon who sired the first Dragon-human hybrid, the first Dragon Emperor, gave his son the shield during the day of his coronation."

"If that information is to be trusted, then that shield is over 80 thousand years old," Long Huan said. "Who knows what mysteries it holds."

Alex thought for a bit. A shield that was given by the Azure Dragon to his son. He could see how powerful a defensive treasure that would have been.

'But how strong is the shield? Is it a good idea for me to have stopped all the attacks? What if I have to spend days here?' Alex wondered. Questions filled his mind and yet no answers surfaced that would satisfy him.

Some few minutes passed and elder Liang Shufen flew up to Alex with a talisman in her hand. Her wounds had been fully healed by now, and she seemed only tired and not else.

"How are you feeling?" Alex asked her.

"I'm feeling much better, your Majesty," she said. "Just a day or two of cultivation and I will be back to my peak again."

Alex nodded and took the talisman that was handed to him.

"And this is?" Alex asked as he looked into the talisman. As he did, he quickly saw many different numbers.

"The death toll," Liang Shufen said in a grim tone. "I assumed you would want this."

Alex nodded. Nearly 4000 people had died in the battle, all on his side. That included not just his soldiers, but also the beasts, the people from the different sects and families that came to help, and the soldiers that had turned against the empire to help their army.

Nearly 3000 of those were saints.

"So many dead," Alex thought.

The number of people that had died in today's war nearly quintupled the amount of saints that were in the Western Continent. The number had been devastating.

Alex passed the talisman for the others to look at when they asked for it. A dark atmosphere settled around all of them.

After a minute or so, Hannah spoke.

"We can't stay like this, doing nothing," she said. "We can't attack him or do anything to him, so we should prepare for something else."

"What do you suggest?" Alex asked.

"I'll go cultivate," she said. "I can have my Qi back and be ready to fight him when he comes out of that defensive barrier."

Alex thought for a bit and nodded. "I should do the same," he said. "In fact, we should all do that."

Alex turned toward Liang Shufen. "Have the soldiers quickly clear up the battlefield and go into the ship. They should be ready to leave now that everything but the main task is done. All of the soldiers are not required here anymore."

Liang Shufen nodded. "I'll do as you command, your Majesty," she said and left.

Alex turned back around toward the others. "We should find a place to—"

His words hung in his mouth as he sensed something stir in the surroundings. Hannah slowly turned as well, her senses just as sharp as Alex's, searching for what was happening.

Before the others could sense anything, they all heard a small buzzing sound coming from the direction of the Dragon Emperor's golden sphere.

"What is happening?" Yan Yating asked with a curious look. "It's barely been 15 minutes since he was in there."

The others looked to see what was going on as well. Everyone, including the soldiers who were supposed to fly into the ship, stopped in their tracks to witness what was about to unfold before them.

As they watched, they saw the golden dragon on the surface of the sphere stir and agitate. The dragon then suddenly roared and started deforming. It wasn't just the dragon, but the entire sphere that began deforming.

Then, as if poked from the inside with something sharp, the sphere stretched until it could stretch no longer and popped open.

The sphere broke like a glass sphere, shattering into many shards that slowly turned into motes of golden light that drifted into the air and vanished.

And from within it appeared the Dragon Emperor in a tattered robe, revealing his body underneath that was devoid of a single scratch.

There was no wound on him at all.