Socially anxious people transmigrate to another world; living in seclusion is too difficult.

The following day, Daklens kept his promise and led the Beast Kingdom forces to retreat early in the morning, urging Chuangjie, Lukun, and Baird to withdraw their respective troops as well.

The two million troops retreated in different directions, while reserving a portion of the army to take over the lands of the Demon Kingdom. The army of the Beast Kingdom and the Slivia Empire marched south, while the army of the Heavenly Fortune Empire and the Kingdom of Delin marched north. Perhaps because his anger had not yet subsided, Chu Angjie took advantage of Cai Ran's return to the royal city and allowed his soldiers to burn, kill, and loot along the way.

However, this action did not cause much damage to the cities along the way, because Lu Kun did not participate in the action. Instead, his troops were seriously injured in the battle with the people of the Demon Kingdom. After all, the elemental talents of the demon race are naturally stronger than those of ordinary humans. Don't underestimate these people of the Demon Kingdom. Their combat power is not much different from that of the regular human army. Seeing this, Chu Angjie could only hasten his retreat. But this action further deepened the hatred and estrangement between the two countries.

Twenty days later, not only did all the troops from various countries return, but the officials sent by each country to govern the territories also arrived at their posts. Their first task was to turn all the demons in the territories into laborers, forcing them to perform high-intensity work in order to extract all the value from the territories.

The various kingdoms' courts also received the battle report, and naturally, some were happy while others were worried. The happy ones were none other than the Holy Beast Kingdom and the Slivia Empire, while the worried ones were the Heavenly Fortune Empire and the Delin Kingdom.

The situation is relatively simple for the Tianyun Empire. As the invaded country, it not only lost a significant portion of its population and suffered severe damage to its army during the war, but also endured the erosion of the Black Tide. A considerable portion of its southern land became unusable and inaccessible, effectively shrinking its borders. While the advantage was that the enemy could no longer invade from the south, the disadvantage was that they could no longer leave from the south.

The reason for Delin Kingdom's distress was rather unique. After learning that he had only received such a small amount of ceded land, Huangfu Yan was furious and raged in front of Shangguan Wang and Nie Congwu: "I gave you troops when I asked for them, and money when I asked for it, and in the end I only got such a tiny bit of land! What use is this land to me! What use is it to me!"

Huangfu Yan was always unpredictable and capricious. At this moment, neither the prime minister Shangguan Wang nor the minister of war Nie Congwu dared to speak. Lu Kun, kneeling in the hall, kept apologizing: "Your Majesty, it is this humble general's incompetence!"

Upon hearing Lu Kun's voice, Huangfu Yan's murderous gaze immediately locked onto him. He pointed at Lu Kun, wanting to curse him, but ultimately held back and put on a smiling face: "Hehehe, I didn't mean to blame you. You've worked hard too, so go down now."

Upon hearing this, Lu Kun dared not move and continued to apologize. However, Huangfu Yan immediately lost his patience and roared, "I have already said that you should leave!" Shangguan Wang, who was standing to the side, quickly gave Nie Congwu a look, and the latter walked quickly to Lu Kun's side and whispered, "Aren't you leaving yet!" Only then did Lu Kun get up and stagger out of the hall.

After Lu Kun left, the hall returned to silence. After a short while, Huangfu Yan seemed to have completely calmed down and spoke again: "Did you find out anything about the Heavenly Fortune Empire's treasure last time?"

"Your Majesty, I was just about to report on this matter." Shangguan Wang, being the shrewd one, immediately chimed in: "We have already dispatched several groups of spies to investigate. According to the intelligence gathered, the Tianyun royal family does seem to possess a treasure, and this treasure is of the fire element."

"Fire element?" Huangfu Yan turned around: "I remember, Chu Jingwu seems to be a fire element as well?"

"Exactly."

"Hmph! He got off too easy. The treasure is so perfectly suited to him. What else could he possibly have?"

"Your Majesty, I am guilty. I only know that the elemental reaction emitted by that treasure came from the Heavenly Fortune Palace, but the palace is heavily guarded, and I have been unable to find out anything further." Shangguan Wang knelt on the ground in fear, and then added, "But I have a plan that can make up for the kingdom's lack of intelligence capabilities."

The old fox's tactic of diverting attention worked as expected, and Huangfu Yan immediately pressed, "What plan?"

"The Church of Saints originated in my Kingdom of Delin, and its main temple is located within my royal city. It also has branch temples throughout the kingdom and the Duchy of Paisen. Their doctrine is that humans are supreme, while other races such as demons and beastmen are considered aliens. Therefore, they have not yet established branches in the Heavenly Fortune Empire, the Beast Kingdom, or the Slivia Empire. As far as I know, the Church of Saints also has three types of branch temples."

Which three categories?

"First is the Temple of Saints, responsible for missionary work and the acceptance and training of believers. Second is the Temple of Holy Knights, responsible for the protection of the church's branches in various places and for carrying out armed missions at any time. Finally is the Temple of Holy Healing, which is responsible for healing believers in normal times and for providing healing to Holy Knights."

"What exactly do you mean by saying all this?"

"Your Majesty, why don't we make the Sage Cult the state religion, have them obey Your Majesty, and then send them to infiltrate the Heavenly Fortune Empire, the Slivia Empire, and the Holy Beast Kingdom to establish branches, take root in other countries, build the kingdom's intelligence network, and at the same time make it convenient to play a role in specific periods."

"Hmm..." Huangfu Yan was somewhat tempted, but still hesitated, so he asked about the Holy Knights Hall that Shangguan Wang had mentioned: "How strong are those Holy Knights you mentioned?"

"One against a thousand!" Shangguan Wang answered with great conviction, so much so that even the suspicious Huangfu Yan had no choice but to believe him.

"Since that's the case, you can get started on it." After hastily ending the topic, Huangfu Yan brought up the matter of the Heavenly Fortune Empire's treasure again: "I plan to unite with other countries, station troops on the border of the Heavenly Fortune Empire, and force Chu Jingwu to hand over the treasure. What do you think?"

"This..." Shangguan Wang and Nie Congwu exchanged a glance. Nie Congwu then understood why he had been summoned to the meeting today. Although Shangguan Wang usually dared not disobey the emperor, this matter was of great importance and he could no longer back down. So he mustered his courage and said, "Your Majesty, I believe it is not advisable!"

"Why?" Huangfu Yan squinted and stared at Shangguan Wang as he asked.

"The war has just ended, the land we have acquired has not yet fully realized its value, our soldiers are exhausted from their long journey, and the national treasury has been overdrawn. It is really not suitable to wage war again. Moreover, if we were to wage war again on this pretext, how would other countries view us? In that case, we would be the unjust party, and we would have no sufficient reason to start another war."

Huangfu Yan ignored him and looked at Nie Congwu, asking, "You are the Minister of War, what do you think?"

"Your Majesty, I share the same opinion as the Prime Minister and do not agree with launching another military operation." Nie Congwu naturally agreed with Shangguan Wang's view, after all, he knew the current situation of the various troops best.

"What if the Heavenly Fortune Empire uses this treasure to destroy the Demon Kingdom and become the sole superpower?" Huangfu Yan finally asked the question that concerned him most.

After listening, Nie Congwu quickly analyzed, "Your Majesty, in my opinion, this possibility is unlikely in the short term."

"Why?"

"The war has just ended, and the Tianyun Empire has suffered severe damage. The western region needs time to recover, and large swathes of land in the south have been eroded, rendering them uninhabitable and unsuitable for agriculture, thus rendering them worthless. That's one reason. Secondly, we had already planted a large number of spies within Tianyun during our previous support mission. If the Tianyun Empire were to launch a forced war, we would receive intelligence immediately. Thirdly, including ourselves, all the countries have received land in the Demon Kingdom and are about to begin trade. Chu Jingwu also has to consider the collateral damage from the war. With Tianyun's current national strength, even with its supreme treasures, it cannot withstand the attack of the allied forces. Therefore, it is unlikely that the Tianyun Empire will launch another war against the Demon Kingdom during its recovery period."

After Nie Congwu finished speaking, there was a moment of silence in the hall. After a long while, Huangfu Yan's voice rang out again: "Very well, since neither of my two ministers agrees with my decision to take military action, then so be it. You may leave."

"Thank you, Your Majesty." Just as the two were about to leave, Huangfu Yan called Shangguan Wang back again and instructed him, "Put the matter of the Sage's Sect that you just mentioned into practice as soon as possible."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

Thus, the Dragon Continent finally ushered in a forced peace. Su Yang and his group, who had just left the Lone Dragon Mountain Range, had no idea what happened after the war between humans and demons, because they were currently facing strict interrogation.

(Volume 4: The Land of Bound Fate, End)