Just as the Holy Emperor had said, the Spiritual Plants, Spirit Medicines, and Demon Beast Essence Blood—resources accumulated by the Sakura Country for centuries that could be quickly converted into Cultivation—had vanished without a trace, leaving not even a scrap behind.

Luckily, resources like Spiritual Artifacts and Magical Artifacts were all still piled up, perfectly intact, deep within the national treasury, and in enormous quantities.

Amaterasu’s anxious heart was instantly put at ease.

These things were more than enough to activate the [God-Devouring Deprivation Grand Array].

Once the Grand Array was activated, the Energy within this massive trove of Spiritual and Magical Artifacts could be forcibly drained just the same.

When infused into his body, this Energy would be enough to help him break through to the Emperor Realm Late Stage in one fell swoop, perhaps even letting him touch the threshold of the Peak of Emperor Realm!

It was enough to attack Great Xia.

Then, after taking down Great Xia’s Demon City, they could plunder another wave of resources.

That was one of Great Xia’s most prosperous cities. It held an endless supply of Spiritual Plants, Spirit Medicines, and Heavenly and Earthly Treasures—more than enough for the five of them to recover their strength.

At this thought, Amaterasu found he could barely muster any anger. He almost felt like thanking the dead mosquito.

If this mosquito hadn’t killed a member of the Qin Family in the Great Xia Capital City, driving Qin Yuan to despair and abandon his post to flee to the East Japan Divine Domain, they never would have gotten such a golden opportunity to so brazenly gather the nation’s resources, prepare for a breakthrough, and invade Great Xia.

As for these two Emperor Realm cultivators from Great Xia?

He’d just kill them.

It was a perfect chance to weaken Great Xia’s strength beforehand, which would mean less resistance when they finally launched their invasion.

"I am aware of what has happened here. You may leave," Amaterasu said, waving his hand dismissively. His tone betrayed no emotion.

"Thank you, Lord Amaterasu! Thank you, Lord Amaterasu!"

As if granted a pardon, the Holy Emperor kowtowed several times before turning and scrambling away without a backward glance. He descended swiftly to the ground and hid himself far away.

He knew better than anyone that this was about to become an Emperor Realm battlefield. A Half-Step Emperor Realm cultivator like him would be committing suicide if he got caught in the middle of it.

Lin Yuehua and Feng Wuji paid no mind to the fleeing Holy Emperor.

Their gazes were locked on the five figures who had suddenly appeared before them. Their hearts pounded, and their faces were grim to the extreme.

They could clearly sense the auras of these five people—all of them were at the Emperor Realm Middle Stage!

Five Emperor Realm Middle Stage cultivators!

The two instantly guessed their identities—the legendary Sakura Ancient Gods!

They had been ordered to the eastern seas precisely to fill the void left by Qin Yuan and keep a close watch on these Sakura Ancient Gods.

But they never, ever expected to encounter so many setbacks along the way.

First, the two Emperor Realm experts from Northern Europe had ignored the pact of the Global God-Slaying Alliance, turning and leaving without a moment’s hesitation, dumping the whole mess on the two of them.

Then, the Mosquito Beast they had come to see as a comrade-in-arms had been killed by the Sakura Country’s Holy Emperor.

And now, these Sakura Ancient Gods, who had been merely clinging to a wretched existence, had shown themselves so brazenly!

And from the looks of it, these Sakura Ancient Gods had long been in collusion with the Sakura Country’s Holy Emperor. Who knew how many years they had been plotting together!

Five at the Emperor Realm Middle Stage versus two newly-promoted Emperor Realm Early Stage cultivators. This was a battle to the death with absolutely no chance of victory.

But at this point, words were useless.

Since they were under orders to stand guard here, they could not retreat a single step!

Even if it meant death, they would tear a pound of flesh from these Sakura Ancient Gods!

At worst, they would join their recently deceased Brother Mosquito in the afterlife!

Lin Yuehua and Feng Wuji exchanged a sharp glance, each seeing the same fearless resolve to face death in the other’s eyes.

Fight!

Lightning flashed and thunder roared across the sky of the Eastern Capital as space began to warp.

It felt as if the sky itself would shatter in the next second.

...

While everyone’s attention was fixed on the impending Emperor Realm battle above the national treasury, deep within the shadows of the national treasury, an inconspicuous mosquito, barely a centimeter long, slipped silently into the area of containers piled high with Spiritual and Magical Artifacts.

That’s right. This was Chu Sheng’s true body.

The one just split in two by the Holy Emperor’s sword had merely been his [Celestial Thunder Illusion].

His earlier disappearance via Instant Teleportation wasn’t an attempt to escape. He knew, of course, that his [Boundless Wings] were useless for fleeing from within a Half-Step Emperor Domain.

In that fleeting moment of disappearance, he had used his [Celestial Thunder Illusion] to create a decoy in a classic switcheroo, while his real body had secretly slipped back into the national treasury!

The current [Celestial Thunder Illusion] possessed 70% of the original’s power and was incredibly realistic.

The Holy Emperor couldn’t see through it, and even Feng Wuji and Lin Yuehua, two Emperor Realm Early Stage cultivators, had been completely fooled.

Now, everyone in the Sakura Country, from the five Ancient Gods down to the common citizens, had their eyes fixed on the impending Emperor Realm battle in the sky.

No one would ever have imagined that the Mosquito Beast they believed to be thoroughly dead had not only survived but was now using this opportunity to raid their last bastion!

Chu Sheng stared at the mountains of Spiritual Artifacts, Magical Artifacts, and Array Plates stretching as far as the eye could see, his eyes glinting with excitement.

’The Sakura Country’s hoard is truly impressive.’

’How much blood and sweat did they have to squeeze from their people to get all this!’

After a moment of marveling, Chu Sheng began his final preparations.

’System, prepare for evolution.’

[Notification: This eleventh comprehensive evolution is estimated to take—three years.]

’What?!’

He’d expected it to take a while, but he never thought it would be this long.

’Good thing I have plenty of Spiritual Artifacts!’

’My last evolution took six months, but the Spiritual and Magical Artifacts from the Qin Family’s treasury shortened that to a few days. The artifacts here are at least ten times more than what the Qin Family had!’

’This should definitely be enough to shorten the evolution time to just a few minutes!’

’When the Celestial Tribulation descends... everything will be settled.’

Tapping his front legs together, Chu Sheng excitedly gave the command: "Begin evolution!"

"Use all the surrounding Heavenly and Earthly Treasures to accelerate the process."

[Ding! Evolution Points deducted. Commencing eleventh comprehensive evolution...]

...

「Above the national treasury.」

Amaterasu looked down upon Lin Yuehua and Feng Wuji, a contemptuous smile playing on his lips.

"Two mere Emperor Realm Early Stage cultivators dare act so insolently before me?"

"Since you’ve delivered yourselves to my doorstep, don’t blame me for what comes next."

"Killing you will serve as a fine appetizer before our invasion of Great Xia."

Lin Yuehua and Feng Wuji’s faces were ashen, but they did not back down.

"Sakura Ancient Gods, do you not fear the world’s Emperor Realm cultivators uniting to punish you?" Lin Yuehua said coldly.

Amaterasu roared with laughter. "Punish us? With what army?"

"Your Great Xia’s Qin Yuan is gone. The Xia Family Ancestor and the Xuanyuan Ancestor no longer involve themselves in worldly affairs."

"And those two cowards from Northern Europe have already fled."

"Who is left to help you now?"

He spread his arms wide, as if embracing the entire world.

"Today marks the beginning of Great Xia’s destruction!"

"Once I have crushed Great Xia, the entire Blue Star will bow at the feet of my Sakura Empire!"

No more words were needed.

Lin Yuehua and Feng Wuji each unleashed their Power and charged the Sakura Ancient Gods.

Even in death, they would take some of them down with them!