Reverend Ecstasy

While Xinzi cultivated under the Grand Tribulation Platform, time didn't hold still. Various factions made their moves, with some rising out of nowhere to add to the eastern chaos. In the Longxi Kingdom, Zhenwu Shenquan nursed his injuries, not only relying on the Demon-Sealing Pagoda to purge the Evil Qi infection but also increase his cultivation base at a rapid pace. Zhenwu Shenquan never imagined that the gift he received from that mysterious divine could bring him this many benefits, and though he still harbored suspicions regarding that divine's true motives, he didn't hesitate to milk the Demon-Sealing Pagoda of all its worth.Â

The Zhenwu clan's plan was simple: let the world fight. Make minimal moves and let other factions compete while Zhenwu Shenquan recovered and made sweeping breakthroughs through the Demon Sealing Pagoda.

The Warlord Seals helped this goal impeccably, fueling the wolfish ambitions of various clans and factions to usher in an era of gangs and warlords. Wherever Daji's hordes reared their head, cultivator coalitions would form in response, with predetermined arrangements on how to split the land they saved. Yes, it was greed and benefit, not indignation, honor or virtue that catalyzed the Eastern Continent's various forces into a structured resistance.Â

The Spiritual Aristocracy's Hegemons saw chunks of their Provinces carved up by these coalitions, who thanks to Zhenwu Shenquan's Warlord Seals, could lawfully take absolute control of the lands they saved from beast invasions.

"Thankfully" for the Hegemons, Daji's hordes were far too strong for these cultivators to protect entire provinces. They had no choice but to focus on villages, farms, mines, towns or the cities whose resources they craved.Â

In the hunt for human, mineral, agricultural and spiritual capital, the warlords fought with a relentless shamelessness.Â

Thus, even in Supercities, one could now see streets, districts or boroughs, ruled independently by X or Y Warlord. The Hegemons fumed at this state of affair, but to put some order in the administration of their realms while still respecting the Zhenwu Shenquan's authority, they had no choice but to recognize these new lords' autonomy—granting them the titles of Street Chief, District Sheriff, Borough Commander, City Lord and so on.Â

Interest groups formed in droves, with Warlords securing these positions for their trusted relatives or subordinates, and often outright stopping expansion as soon as they met their goals or believed they no longer had the manpower to fight off more beast invasions. In the shadows, deals, contracts and alliances succeeded one another, reshaping both the administrative and power structure of the Eastern Continent.Â

Needless to say, some did fight purely out of righteous desires to put an end to the beast scourge, but those often were a minority—a minority of idealists that often got the short end of the stick, getting backstabbed for profit, or overwhelmed by organized beast tides. Faced with constant disappointment, some idealists shifted to profit hunting, adding to the eastern chaos. Others remained loyal to their initial aspirations, solely fighting for the salvation of their towns, cities, states, supercities or provinces.Â

This was the Eastern Continent's situation at large. And in the Yanzhou Province, things weren't that different. In fact, they were arguably worse. The states of Kuaiji, Jimo and Xumi fell like a card castle upset by a gust of wind. Then came Changsha and Linyuan, leaving only the Dongli and Anyue states to resist the scourge.Â

Led by its new Grand Priestess and "resurrected" Hierarch, the Anyue state put up steadfast resistance—successfully sending the beast invaders packing. Anyue's success spread far and wide, shocking fallen states and nearby provinces.

The Yanzhou Province only had to deal with the 29th horde, weakest of Daji's armies, but it still boasted platoons of Holy Shadow Beasts led by a squad of Anointed Holy Beasts. Respectively, these were equivalent to Dao Revelation and Void Tribulant experts.

In the past, as one of the weakest Provinces, Yanzhou didn't have a single Void Tribulant realm expert. As for Dao Revelation experts, one could count them in the dozens. But on the other side, the invading horde had over 100 such experts, led by 12 at the Void Tribulant tier—including a terrifying monster whose strength matched the peak of the Void Tribulant realm.Â

And yet, the Anyue state managed to push them back. Although the horde's top experts didn't make an appearance, this was proof that Anyue possessed experts, formations or other tricks at the Void Tribulant level.Â

Anyue's success filled various factions with suspicion. Add to that their heretical background, and some wondered if they didn't cross the forbidden line and formed pacts with demonic powers.Â

As for the Dongli state...well, they had it easy.

The horde's 12 leaders headed straight for Burning Spear Supercity. Anyue met and repelled the brunt of the mysterious beast army. As for the rest, they refused to invade at scale, instead sending thieves and assassins to assess the Dongli forces, destabilize their infrastructure, loot supply routes and cripple the state. Concealed by the chaos, beast scouts snuck in, investigating the whereabouts of a monk sought by their empress.Â

In times of chaos, the brave rise up, heroes emerge from obscurity, and legends write their tales in the blood of myriad enemies.Â

Dongli had yet to see the establishment of a legend, but braves and heroes emerged in droves, accomplishing startling feats that put their countrymen in awe. One such hero was the Dongli King, Shui Jiankang, who against all odds, singlehandedly beheaded a Beast King and several Beast Generals that tried to assassinate the Shui royal family, before leading a successful hunt against all mysterious beasts concealed in the capital.

From a lackluster state king overshadowed by the defunct White Immortal Sect, Shui Jiankang rose to prominence—within the Dongli sphere, at least.Â

But as some marveled that the king needed to make such a strong show of force for the state's various powers to remember his existence, others focused on two younger more captivating heroes:

The defunct White Immortal Sect's Zi Zuixian, and the Nameless Sword Mountain's new prime disciple: Qiu Chen.Â

As soon as the beast tides went in motion, Zi Zuixian returned to the Dongli state, shocking his countryfolks with a nine-revolutions Golden Core. By relying on his deep cultivation base and mystical abilities, Zi Zuixian cleft a bloody path through a squad of seven Beast Kings on his way to the wasteland that now covered the White Immortal Sect's former territory.Â

Even more terrifying, the young Qiu Chen, with a Pulse Condensation cultivation base, slew a formation of 20 Beast Kings at the foot of the Nameless Sword Mountain—shocking the world in a single feat.Â