Chapter 2077

Qingyang had planned a five-city alliance for Bai Tan that, if it could hold out for another ten days—given the quality of the five cities themselves, this was actually not difficult to achieve—would immediately trigger a food crisis in the Dragon God Army, after all, the daily consumption of four hundred thousand troops is a staggering figure.

Unfortunately, there are no ifs in war.

Unfortunately, Qingyang is dead, and no one can influence Bai Tan as effectively as he did anymore. Bai Tan also has strategists and officers under him who have suggested that the Dragon God Army's supplies are insufficient, but it is merely "considered," with no evidence to support it, and Bai Tan, in a state of panic and despair, simply cannot listen.

Capturing these five core cities, especially Mangzhou and Shuicheng, is nothing short of a major boon for the Dragon God Army.

The Jin Kingdom originally relied on the power of Shanjin to sustain a nation, and the fat of Shuicheng had been plundered by Bai Tan. After Bai Tan was beheaded, the Black Armor Army searched his mansion and clan granaries, and they were still full to the brim.

The average storage in the granaries of the five cities was also half-full, all because the Dragon God Army's offensive speed was too fast, leaving the cities no time to consume their supplies.

Thus, the situation on the Shanjin Plains was settled.

In the following two months, various parts of the Shanjin Plains experienced unprecedented bumper harvests, with merchants and travelers walking on the newly repaired official roads, seeing endless golden seas swaying in the wind on both sides, and village guard dogs driving away grain-eating sparrows in the fields.

Such a scene moved countless people to tears.

This is a beautiful scene they never dared to imagine in their dreams before.

On this day, the traditional festival of "Harvest Sacrifice" in Jucheng, He Lingchuan offered sacrifices to heaven and earth, paid homage to the Dragon God, and established the state, formally founding a nation on the Shanjin Plains, with the state name "Cangyan"!

Cangmu grows from the earth, Yan Yang shines in the heaven, the proper way of Qiankun.

The grandeur of that day needs no further description—He Lingchuan's sacrifice to heaven and earth in the suburbs drew crowds of people, with countless Shanjin people coming from all directions, eager to catch a glimpse of the Dragon God's majesty.

What they saw was an unforgettable scene for a lifetime:

When the founding ceremony reached its climax, the Nine Abysses Great Emperor personally laid the foundation stone and proclaimed the establishment of the Cangyan State.

As his words fell, a great wind rose, blowing so hard that people could not open their eyes.

Then came a clear, resonant dragon's roar that shook the nine heavens.

Beneath He Lingchuan's feet, a huge black dragon phantom burst from the ground, circling three times above the suburbs, neither hurried nor slow.

The Dragon God has manifested!

Its size is so immense that when coiled, it could cover more than half the area of Jucheng!

During the first circle, every person on the ground stared agape, looking up at it, gazing upon this most mysterious and powerful deity in legend.

The black dragon last appeared at Jukou Harbor, and the Shanjin people have passed down the tale, but those who did not see it with their own eyes inevitably doubted it, thinking it was exaggerated.

Today, finally, seeing is believing!

During the second circle, soldiers and civilians alike knelt and bowed, shouting their prayers to it.

As the people sincerely chanted, the Dragon God's form became more substantial, each roar capable of shaking mountains and rivers and making hearts reverent.

After circling three times, it rose straight up, piercing into the thick clouds.

It was exactly sunset, and the sky flashed with several bolts of thunder, clearly illuminating the dragon shadow in the clouds—how winding, how expansive, and how majestic its bearing!

The Nine Abysses Great Emperor personally proclaimed:

The Dragon God's descent into the world is to eliminate evil and uphold righteousness, to destroy demons and remove evil. Now that Shanjin has regained a peace and tranquility unseen in a thousand years, the Dragon God's merit is complete, and it returns to its heavenly throne.

After returning to its throne, the Dragon God will nourish all things and protect the safety of Shanjin!

His voice, amplified by true power, spread throughout the crowd, every word and sentence drilling into the ears of soldiers and civilians alike.

After half an hour of cloud-turning, the Dragon God vanished from sight.

Accompanied by the final dragon's roar, Emperor's Flowing Jiang descended from the heavens.

The Nine Abysses Great Emperor had just said the Dragon God would nourish all things, and in the blink of an eye, sweet rain poured down everywhere.

Golden words, jade-like speech.

The crowd shouted in unison, then knelt in the rain before the Nine Abysses Great Emperor, performing a full prostration.

The number of people who personally witnessed this "Ascending Dragon" event reached hundreds of thousands.

In the midst of the fervent crowd, some disturbances still occurred.

Fortunately, Emperor's Flowing Jiang has been frequent in the past half year, so people are not as frenzied as before, and with the Dragon God Army's strict security and crowd control, no major trouble arose.

The people were still basking in the grace of the spiritual rain when they suddenly felt the ground tremble—at first slight, then the pebbles on the ground jumped wildly, and people swayed along.

Could it be the Earth Dragon turning over?

As civilians felt afraid, they saw radiant light bursting into the sky behind the Nine Abysses Great Emperor, with the sound of trees breaking coming from several hills, followed by one palace after another rising from the ground!

These palaces all have vermilion eaves and red ridges, arranged in orderly rows, each with a unique design.

As they extend toward the crowd, the architectural style becomes more symmetrical and uniform, arranged on both sides of the central axis, fully displaying dignity and grandeur.

In just half an hour, even the heavy and magnificent palace gates and city walls were completed, fortuitously located directly behind the Nine Abysses Great Emperor.

This is the palace city of the Cangyan State!

Blocked by the palace walls, people can now only see the roofs of buildings of varying heights and designs, and the red maple trees peeking over the walls!

But in the mountains behind, the lit palaces shimmer faintly within the dense forest, ethereal and elusive.

Miracle, miracle!

Hundreds of thousands fell silent once again.

The shock they received tonight was so great that they naturally progressed from initial astonishment to "Ah, truly worthy of the Dragon God's handiwork," "Ah, truly worthy of the Great Emperor's handiwork."

Standing beside Liu Qingdao, Xutu whispered: "Eh? Is this..."

It looks very familiar.

Liu Qingdao did not wait for it to finish speaking before interrupting:

"Yes."

It is impossible for a mortal emperor's palace city to be built overnight; He Lingchuan took a clever shortcut, directly using the most precious treasure of the Phantom Sect:

Chixiao Golden Palace!

Yes, this entire palace city is a magical artifact. After the Phantom Sect moved to the Inverted Sea, they used it to build their own mountain gate's original site.

When He Lingchuan first entered the Phantom Sect's territory last year, what he saw was it manifesting as palace halls atop the mountain peak.

At that time, how shocked he and Dong Rui were, the people of Shanjin now are several times more shocked, after all, the two of them had already seen far beyond the ordinary.

He Lingchuan founded the state and declared himself emperor, so of course he needed a grand capital and palace.

Ju City could serve as the capital and be gradually expanded, but the palace had to be built first—otherwise, where would the Nine Abysses Great Emperor live?

Too small, and it wouldn't display imperial grandeur; after all, the royal city is also the nation's face.

Too large, and first, construction would drag on endlessly—it couldn't be finished in three or five years. You know, the palace city of the former Ying State was built in stages over more than a decade, with several halts due to lack of funds; and Bekka's palace city, located on a floating island, requires at least two years for even minor regional repairs. Don't be fooled by the majesty of the Sky Island—actually, some part of it is always under repair.

He Lingchuan wouldn't like it when, while governing from afar, the sound of construction echoes with constant clanging.

Secondly, building too large would burden the people and drain the treasury. The newly founded Cangyan State has countless places requiring money, labor, materials, and manpower, and He Lingchuan only wants to spend them where they matter most—on the cutting edge.

Therefore, the Chixiao Golden Palace is truly the best choice.